Tag Archives: advertising
Two ways to begin a fundraising appeal – from Jerry Huntsinger
In Jerry Huntsinger’s “86 Tutorials in Creating Fundraising Letters and Packages,” he makes a point about how to begin a fundraising appeal. He makes his point with an example. It’s an appeal for a cancer charity. It begins: “Children shouldn’t … 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
Positioning for your nonprofit
Donors want to know that they’re making a difference with their gifts. That’s always been the case, and it’s even more true now with the current recession going on. So that’s why it’s important to take a look at your … Continue reading
Make your fundraising appeal stronger with the right teaser
An appeal from a religious nonprofit has this teaser on the outside envelope: “It is necessary to be strong, in order to become great; that is our duty. Life is a struggle which we cannot avoid. We must triumph!” It’s … Continue reading
Your fundraising will fail if you get this one thing wrong
There’s one thing that every successful fundraiser knows for sure … and every struggling fundraiser has yet to find out. It’s this simple fact. Aside from the people who actually give you money – your donors – the offer you … Continue reading
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
Coronavirus fundraising and what not to do
Fundraising for the coronavirus emergency is, well, unusual so far. A soup kitchen sends an email with the subject line “A message from the president.” If you’re a donor scanning your email inbox, that could be just about anything. Then … Continue reading
Are your fundraising appeals repetitive? Good
Effective copywriting for fundraising is weird. It has a lot of characteristics that seem to be the opposite of what’s right. One of these is repetition. Good copy for an appeal tends to repeat some things over and over. To … Continue reading
Are you shouting at your donors without realizing it?
Yes, most donors are Baby Boomers. They’re in their 60s or later. And they don’t like to be shouted at. Are you doing that in your mail appeals? You might be if you’ve bought into the idea that the bigger … Continue reading