Category Archives: Uncategorized
8 questions to ask to get inside your donor’s head
The better you know your donor, the better your appeal is going to be. That’s obvious. The problem is your donor is probably coming from a completely different experiential background. How do you get inside that person’s head? Luckily, the … Continue reading
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How to begin a fundraising appeal
What should come first in a fundraising appeal? It’s an important question. Maybe even the most important question. Because if you fail to capture your donor’s attention at the start, there’s not much chance she’s going read the rest of … Continue reading
Tell a better story for fundraising
Is this the way to make the story in your fundraising appeal more memorable and more impactful? Tell it in the present tense. Most of the time, stories are in the past tense. This happened, then that happened, then this … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising, Uncategorized
Tagged advertising, copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising, nonprofit
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Coronavirus fundraising – there’s a better way
Judging from what’s showing up in mailboxes and email inboxes, it looks like a lot of nonprofits are struggling with the messaging around the coronavirus crisis. But honestly, they’re making it much harder than it has to be. Take this … Continue reading
How NOT to begin a fundraising appeal – and one way that almost always works
A fundraising appeal from a social services nonprofit opens with this: “What would we do without you? How would we help local families like Michelle’s?” That’s the opening paragraph, the first thing that donors will see, and for some, the … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, fundraising, Uncategorized
Tagged advertising, behavior, charity, copywriting, fundraising, letter, marketing, nonprofit, Online fundraising
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How to test smart for fundraising
The problem with the typical A/B test for a direct mail fundraising appeal or an email appeal is that it’s just too careful and conservative. That’s the point in this post from Seth’s blog. He says that we tend to … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, fundraising, Uncategorized
Tagged behavior, copywriting, donors, fundraising
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3 must-haves for a strong January renewal appeal
Now that your year end appeal is out the door, it’s time to relax with a few weeks off. HA! Kidding! Actually, it’s time for your January renewal appeal to be in the works. Your January renewal can be one … Continue reading
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Year-end fundraising: easy way to get the messaging right
It’s true – now’s the time to start thinking about year-end fundraising. The end of the year is a crucial time for nonprofits, because most of the gifts that nonprofits receive come in during December. We’ve all seen that stats … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, fundraising, Uncategorized
Tagged copywriting, fundraising, nonprofit
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Is The Agitator wrong about the too-much-mail donor complaint?
The too-much-mail donor complaint (and how to handle it by mailing less) shows up in an interesting post in The Agitator. And it prompts a question: Is it a good idea to let donor complaints drive strategy when we may … Continue reading
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Subject-line lessons for fundraising from the Presidential campaign
Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign in 2012 set the standard for the use of email for fundraising with the famous one-word subject line: “Hey.” Now Hillary Clinton’s campaign is testing and using a variety of subject lines, based on six major … Continue reading
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Fundraising Copywriter George Crankovic 