Tag Archives: donors
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
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
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged advertising, charity, copywriting, donors, email, fundraising, nonprofit, Online fundraising
Leave a comment
Ask yourself, “Would I donate to this?”
A direct mail appeal from an international aid and relief charity opens with: “Five of Sayo’s children died because of dirty water. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it?” Okay, we have a statement of need that maybe the donor can … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged charity, copywriting, donation, donor psychology, donors, fundraising, marketing, nonprofit
Leave a comment
The single best — and easiest — way to improve your fundraising
If you’re heading up a nonprofit (or part of the team that does), one of the best things you can do for your fundraising is to come to terms with a hard truth: You are not your donors. But don’t … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising, nonprofit
Tagged charity, copywriting, donor psychology, donors, fundraising, nonprofit
Leave a comment
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
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising, nonprofit
Tagged advertising, behavior, copywriting, donor psychology, donors, fundraising, marketing
Leave a comment
When not to thank your donors
How to begin a fundraising appeal – that’s a tough one. You win or lose donors in those first few seconds. So the opening has to be spot on, and that’s not easy. Which is probably why so many appeals … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, fundraising
Tagged copywriting, donation, donor psychology, donors, fundraising, nonprofit
Leave a comment
Another reason to send thank you letters to your donors
When it comes to thanking donors, this is a horror story: A donor writes a check for $50,000, sends it in to the charity, and waits and waits for days and then finally calls the charity to make sure it … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising, nonprofit
Tagged charity, copywriting, donors, fundraising
Leave a comment
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
Leave a comment
What’s your fundraising war story?
When things go wrong with a fundraising appeal, it can seem like the end when it’s happening to you. But really, sometimes the lessons you learn in the school of hard knocks are the best ones – the ones you … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, fundraising, nonprofit
Tagged copywriting, donors, fundraising
Leave a comment
Why informing donors doesn’t work in fundraising
It’s all too easy to think that if donors had enough information about a nonprofit’s work that they would donate in droves. But, unfortunately, that’s not the case. Truth is, as fundraisers we run into a roadblock called confirmation bias. … Continue reading
Posted in donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged donor psychology, donors, fundraising
Leave a comment
