Expert insights. Personalized for you.
He recently vowed that he would no longer fundraise for candidates who don’t allow people to opt out of snail mail appeals with their online gift: It really is infuriating. I blame direct mail consultants who charge per piece sent. I get direct mail from campaigns and it goes straight into the shredder and recycling bin. [.] Obviously, if it’s cost-effective to send direct mail to your online donors, many NPOs are going to do so. MORE
#GivingTuesday 2020 is December 1 and below are important data about GivingTuesday donors to help your nonprofit create a successful campaign. From the 2020 Global Trends in Giving Report : 2) 9% of donors worldwide donated to a nonprofit, NGO, or charity on GivingTuesday 2019. MORE
Whether it’s sending out an ask, an update on a project, or a thank you letter, a nonprofit’s message isn’t effective unless it reaches the right donor at the right time. Reaching out to a selected group of donors can sometimes miss the mark and not make it to the intended audience. MORE
Last year you likely had to shake up your events strategy, find new ways to communicate with all types of donors, and might even have found that virtual donor visits can be just as effective as in-person (and perhaps even appreciated when we’re all locked down). MORE
Donor touches matter and paper is still your best bet. The post Donor touches? Blog Donor communications Fundraising annual giving direct mail donor communicationsI have been seeing a lot of articles during the past year about COVID and work. MORE
The giving spirit is high, and donors want to know how they can contribute to the causes that they care about. Your organization needs to do more than simply ask your donors for contributions. You need to create personal, targeted appeals that show donors how they fit into your fundraising and how their gifts impact the recipients of your aid. Retain more donors. Your data, after all, provides insight into your donors. MORE
When you’re determining who to cultivate for your major donor portfolio, do you simply look at everyone who gave more than $1,000 (or whatever your major gift amount is) and dump them all into your portfolio for the year? Who Gets an Individual Major Donor Portfolio Cultivation Plan? . MORE
Your nonprofit’s donor retention rate is the percentage of donors who give from year to year, or over any other specific time period. Acquiring new donors through constant outreach is much more expensive over time. Which types saw the fewest donors return to give over time? MORE
We’ve rounded up six ways to reach out to millennial donors to help boost your fundraising efforts. Rethink mail asks. They might not live at the same place they lived 5 or 6 months ago, and another 6 months down the line they might live in a totally different city, so there’s a good chance they’re going to miss your year-end appeal and other mail pieces. If they are, then they’re hearing your asks there, and like other donors they don’t want to feel bombarded. MORE
I leafed through my stack of mail the other day, and there it was: another colorful, overfull packet from Treesavers International (not the nonprofit’s real name). That sounds like a recipe for donor acquisition. Donor Communications Fundraising MORE
Your most loyal donors are your multichannel donors. Multichannel donors support you in every way possible. You should want all of your donors to interact with your organization the way multichannel donors do! According to a recent DonorPerfect study , you can expect that multichannel donors will contribute triple the amount of online-only and offline-only donors. How can you identify your multichannel donors? Send direct mail, too! MORE
Many nonprofits don’t know their donor data. If we don’t know our donor data, how can we effectively plan a fundraising appeal? Combat the challenges of donor retention? So, how do we know that nonprofits don’t know their donor data? What’s worse, DONOR data degrades faster than most any other type of data. Because donors are people, and people’s lives change. Answer: only what is stored in the donor database. MORE
How are we going to shift our direct mail strategy to find more mid-level donors? Your donors (and prospective donors) will care about that mission. The best way to find donors like that is by staying mission-focused. MORE
Now it’s time to build a direct mail piece that has the same outcome. But even if you have the best offer, there’s much more that goes into a direct mail piece to make it effective. Step One: Understand Direct Mail. Direct mail is a printed promotional piece that arrives in your literal mailbox, not the virtual one we’ve come to embrace. Start by checking out these general tips from one of our favorite direct mail experts. MORE
It’s almost the year-end giving season, and most non-profits I know are getting ready to reach out to their donors to ask for one more donation before the end of the year. Today, I want to present a sample year-end fundraising e-mail for a fictional non-profit organization. Lots of fundraisers ask me what a great year-end e-mail appeal should look like — well, here it is. For many organizations, long (or super-long) snail-mail fundraising letters work. MORE
to learn more about the turn to online fundraising, the need for a multichannel approach and how direct mail is still alive and well. Online acquired donors are significantly younger, more affluent, and more generous than their offline counterparts. While the number one reason for giving, both online and off, is for emotional reasons, the online donor is more likely to respond only once to fulfill that emotional need, whereas the offline donor is more likely to give repeatedly. MORE
7,008 survey respondents from 81 countries indicated in the survey that they had donated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and some characteristics of these donors are listed below. It’s worth noting that 68% of the COVID-19 donors were female, 31% male. MORE
Erica Waasdorp will show you how important recurring giving has become, and how best to bring them in – with minimal time and effort, but with the large focus these sustainable recurring donors deserve. They want to hear about Erica’s monthly donor secret. I found a donor. MORE
One of the basic tenants of successful fundraising is donor stewardship. Donors who have shown your organization some love through their gifts are at risk of walking away if not shown some love in return. Romancing your donors should be a top priority! Donor Retention Featured MORE
There was a time not too long ago when digital channels like email, social media, and text messaging were seen as complementary to direct mail: the cornerstone of any robust donor communications strategy. And yes, that includes direct mail! Yes, direct mail can be personal! MORE
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes Clean Up Your Act: Donor Data Management for Nonprofits. Your nonprofit CRM is a powerful tool that can help you better understand your donors. Mail merges will take less time. managing your donor data. MORE
Development audit after development audit of small- to mid-sized organizations reveals that while donor retention remains a critical issue there is also another issue that is equally important. Gone are the days of list acquisitions and swapping of mailing lists. By Robin L. MORE
Major donors are the most valuable supporters of the nonprofit world. Follow these three steps to engage and nurture the high net worth donors who share your vision. 1) Invite major donors to be an integral part of the work they’re funding. MORE
It covered broad brush strategies all nonprofits today should incorporate into their donor fundraising/marketing mix. These are my favorite tips to enhance what you’re already doing to attract and sustain individual donor fundraising. . Only 6 out of 10 ongoing donors renew. MORE
Direct mail is a major workhorse for all nonprofits. And regardless of what you hear or think about online giving, most gifts still come via the mail. This week guest blogger Gail Perry is back with her top tips to help us all raise more money by mail. 112 Tips to Raise More Money by Mail. Direct mail is the most important fundraising and communications tool you have. Here’s a smart guide to help you nail all aspects of your mailing package. MORE
Successful outreach requires understanding your donors and what makes them decide to give. Of course, no two donors are exactly alike, which means your nonprofit has to account for lots of different supporters with different motivations and different ways to reach them. MORE
All charities need new donors, just like all businesses need new customers. Studies tell us again and again: it is cheaper to retain an existing donor (or consumer) than to acquire a new one. My charity needs new donors. Donors can come from anywhere. Direct mail campaigns. In short, every activity undertaken by the charity can generate new donors. If you don’t know where some new donors are coming from, then it is time to start tracking that too. MORE
This means that fewer people are seeing your traditional donor recognition devices, like donor walls, donor brick pavers, donation certificates, and plaques. Recognize the donors on donation pages. Recognize the donors on donation pages. MORE
to learn more about the turn to online fundraising, the need for a multichannel approach and how direct mail is still alive and well. Online donor solicitations are powerful. The allure to both nonprofits and potential donors is obvious. The Surprising Truth About Online Donors. Many organizations see the immediacy of giving, the larger average donations from online donors, and the relatively low costs in producing solicitations and look no further. MORE
Now, let’s talk about your donor database. Year after year you gather information about donors. Donors lapse. You keep mailing out newsletters and fundraising appeals. You keep adding new donors, new prospects and your mailing lists get larger. Is your organization is a donor data hoarder? Data hoarding extends far beyond just your donor data and CRM software. But for our purposes, let’s narrow the focus to donor data. MORE
A few months ago I wrote a post on the topic of whether nonprofits should delete old donor records. Not wanting mail? Fast forward to a couple of years ago, and we''re forwarded a press release of a $5M gift to an out-of-state university, in which it says the donor is an alumnus of our university (the donor wasn''t an alum of the university that got the gift, but it was in his home community). MORE
Think fast: do you know where you get your best donors? Ask any fundraiser if they want more donors and you’ll get a resounding “YES” but ask what source yielded them their very BEST donors and you might see some puzzled faces. . How to calculate donor lifetime value . MORE
However, during these discussions, many organizations ask the same question: “How do we attract more donors?” Start boosting your donor retention rate by focusing on those who are just giving to your nonprofit for the first time. Why First-Time Donor Retention is Important. MORE
All this fundraising definitely involves sending appeals to your donor base. Deciding on the channels through which to send your appeals can be tough—there are so many ways to reach donors these days. What are the benefits of using direct mail in a multi-channel approach? MORE
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes 5 Ways to Improve Your Donor Retention. How many of your donors continue to contribute to your organization year after year? High donor retention is extremely valuable to any organization. Thanking your donors is a must-do. MORE
In “ Who Gets to Be in Your Nonprofit’s Major Donor Portfolio ” we looked at how to qualify a major donor prospect to be in your portfolio. Who has the ability to represent your organization and make fruitful connections with donors? Who would donors enjoy meeting with? MORE
We identify another 2,500-5,000 patients who are included in direct mail acquisition appeals. The post Next Level Healthcare Fundraising: Using Gratitude to Qualify Donors first appeared on npENGAGE. Healthcare donor prospecting Grateful Patient Fundraising healthcare fundraising MORE
This change would leave many of our donors (without email addresses) in the dark when it comes to news and feel-good stories about the organization. We continue to solicit donors using direct mail and emails. As a result, our sector’s donor retention stats will decline further. MORE
The two most prominent fundraising channels for nonprofits are direct mail and email. Here are the pros and cons of mail vs. email. . Direct Mail. Direct mail has been around for a long time, and it’s been the biggest fundraising channel since it’s inception. MORE
Following an initial drop-off in direct mail after our country’s lockdown, my mailbox started filling up again. Here are a few random observations from the past 6 weeks of mailings in an exceptional year…. MORE
Click for strategies on revamping your direct mail program , practical tips on improving your email program , and an in-depth look at reporting tools every nonprofit should have to improve their fundraising strategy.). Working in major gifts means tracking relationships, points of contact, and data with multiple high-level donors. For example, we see there are eight potential donors still in the qualification stage. MORE
By focusing a little extra energy on your mid-level donors, you can raise more money and create a quality pipeline for your major gifts officers. Successful mid-level donor programs are all about providing donors with a personal touch while maintaining the analytic discipline that allows you to scale your programming. How can we cultivate new donors while continuing to steward the supporters that we already have? Mid-level donors are well-worth your time and attention. MORE
In today’s digital age, it might seem somewhat nostalgic to talk about direct mail. While it’s tempting to default to cost effective communication channels like email and Facebook, direct mail is still very much in play. Today, direct mail continues to be an effective way to prompt donors to take action. Knowing the methodology has evolved, how do we cut through email clutter and reach donors in a personal way via their mailbox? MORE
GivingTuesday donors gave an astonishing $808 million online and $2.47 And a fair share of those donors was brand new! Resources: Grab Erica’s Monthly Donor Road Map here. Grab your Monthly Giving Ask template to help frame your direct mail and email asks. MORE
Kindful
FEBRUARY 25, 2021
There was a time not too long ago when digital channels like email, social media, and text messaging were seen as complementary to direct mail: the cornerstone of any robust donor communications strategy. And yes, that includes direct mail! Yes, direct mail can be personal!
Bloomerang
APRIL 6, 2021
All this fundraising definitely involves sending appeals to your donor base. Deciding on the channels through which to send your appeals can be tough—there are so many ways to reach donors these days. What are the benefits of using direct mail in a multi-channel approach?
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The Fundraising Authority
DECEMBER 5, 2020
It’s almost the year-end giving season, and most non-profits I know are getting ready to reach out to their donors to ask for one more donation before the end of the year. Today, I want to present a sample year-end fundraising e-mail for a fictional non-profit organization. Lots of fundraisers ask me what a great year-end e-mail appeal should look like — well, here it is. For many organizations, long (or super-long) snail-mail fundraising letters work.
EveryAction
FEBRUARY 5, 2018
In today’s digital age, it might seem somewhat nostalgic to talk about direct mail. While it’s tempting to default to cost effective communication channels like email and Facebook, direct mail is still very much in play. Today, direct mail continues to be an effective way to prompt donors to take action. Knowing the methodology has evolved, how do we cut through email clutter and reach donors in a personal way via their mailbox?
The Modern Nonprofit
APRIL 20, 2021
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes 5 Ways to Improve Your Donor Retention. How many of your donors continue to contribute to your organization year after year? High donor retention is extremely valuable to any organization. Thanking your donors is a must-do.
NonProfit Hub
JANUARY 5, 2021
The two most prominent fundraising channels for nonprofits are direct mail and email. Here are the pros and cons of mail vs. email. . Direct Mail. Direct mail has been around for a long time, and it’s been the biggest fundraising channel since it’s inception.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
#GivingTuesday 2020 is December 1 and below are important data about GivingTuesday donors to help your nonprofit create a successful campaign. From the 2020 Global Trends in Giving Report : 2) 9% of donors worldwide donated to a nonprofit, NGO, or charity on GivingTuesday 2019.
Hands on Fundraising
FEBRUARY 9, 2021
Donor touches matter and paper is still your best bet. The post Donor touches? Blog Donor communications Fundraising annual giving direct mail donor communicationsI have been seeing a lot of articles during the past year about COVID and work.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JUNE 6, 2020
7,008 survey respondents from 81 countries indicated in the survey that they had donated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and some characteristics of these donors are listed below. It’s worth noting that 68% of the COVID-19 donors were female, 31% male.
Bloomerang
APRIL 19, 2021
In “ Who Gets to Be in Your Nonprofit’s Major Donor Portfolio ” we looked at how to qualify a major donor prospect to be in your portfolio. Who has the ability to represent your organization and make fruitful connections with donors? Who would donors enjoy meeting with?
EveryAction
JANUARY 18, 2018
We’ve rounded up six ways to reach out to millennial donors to help boost your fundraising efforts. Rethink mail asks. They might not live at the same place they lived 5 or 6 months ago, and another 6 months down the line they might live in a totally different city, so there’s a good chance they’re going to miss your year-end appeal and other mail pieces. If they are, then they’re hearing your asks there, and like other donors they don’t want to feel bombarded.
Connection Cafe
MARCH 26, 2021
Successful outreach requires understanding your donors and what makes them decide to give. Of course, no two donors are exactly alike, which means your nonprofit has to account for lots of different supporters with different motivations and different ways to reach them.
Kindful
APRIL 12, 2021
This means that fewer people are seeing your traditional donor recognition devices, like donor walls, donor brick pavers, donation certificates, and plaques. Recognize the donors on donation pages. Recognize the donors on donation pages.
Bloomerang
APRIL 22, 2021
I leafed through my stack of mail the other day, and there it was: another colorful, overfull packet from Treesavers International (not the nonprofit’s real name). That sounds like a recipe for donor acquisition. Donor Communications Fundraising
Pamela Grow
DECEMBER 16, 2020
Following an initial drop-off in direct mail after our country’s lockdown, my mailbox started filling up again. Here are a few random observations from the past 6 weeks of mailings in an exceptional year….
EveryAction
SEPTEMBER 21, 2018
By focusing a little extra energy on your mid-level donors, you can raise more money and create a quality pipeline for your major gifts officers. Successful mid-level donor programs are all about providing donors with a personal touch while maintaining the analytic discipline that allows you to scale your programming. How can we cultivate new donors while continuing to steward the supporters that we already have? Mid-level donors are well-worth your time and attention.
Bloomerang
APRIL 30, 2021
Erica Waasdorp will show you how important recurring giving has become, and how best to bring them in – with minimal time and effort, but with the large focus these sustainable recurring donors deserve. They want to hear about Erica’s monthly donor secret. I found a donor.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
OCTOBER 22, 2020
Development audit after development audit of small- to mid-sized organizations reveals that while donor retention remains a critical issue there is also another issue that is equally important. Gone are the days of list acquisitions and swapping of mailing lists. By Robin L.
Greater Giving
APRIL 16, 2021
Whether it’s sending out an ask, an update on a project, or a thank you letter, a nonprofit’s message isn’t effective unless it reaches the right donor at the right time. Reaching out to a selected group of donors can sometimes miss the mark and not make it to the intended audience.
Bloomerang
MAY 3, 2021
It covered broad brush strategies all nonprofits today should incorporate into their donor fundraising/marketing mix. These are my favorite tips to enhance what you’re already doing to attract and sustain individual donor fundraising. . Only 6 out of 10 ongoing donors renew.
NonProfit Hub
JUNE 20, 2016
Now it’s time to build a direct mail piece that has the same outcome. But even if you have the best offer, there’s much more that goes into a direct mail piece to make it effective. Step One: Understand Direct Mail. Direct mail is a printed promotional piece that arrives in your literal mailbox, not the virtual one we’ve come to embrace. Start by checking out these general tips from one of our favorite direct mail experts.
The Modern Nonprofit
MARCH 9, 2021
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes Clean Up Your Act: Donor Data Management for Nonprofits. Your nonprofit CRM is a powerful tool that can help you better understand your donors. Mail merges will take less time. managing your donor data.
EveryAction
DECEMBER 7, 2016
The giving spirit is high, and donors want to know how they can contribute to the causes that they care about. Your organization needs to do more than simply ask your donors for contributions. You need to create personal, targeted appeals that show donors how they fit into your fundraising and how their gifts impact the recipients of your aid. Retain more donors. Your data, after all, provides insight into your donors.
EveryAction
FEBRUARY 26, 2018
Click for strategies on revamping your direct mail program , practical tips on improving your email program , and an in-depth look at reporting tools every nonprofit should have to improve their fundraising strategy.). Working in major gifts means tracking relationships, points of contact, and data with multiple high-level donors. For example, we see there are eight potential donors still in the qualification stage.
Connection Cafe
JANUARY 19, 2021
Last year you likely had to shake up your events strategy, find new ways to communicate with all types of donors, and might even have found that virtual donor visits can be just as effective as in-person (and perhaps even appreciated when we’re all locked down).
Bloomerang
APRIL 12, 2021
When you’re determining who to cultivate for your major donor portfolio, do you simply look at everyone who gave more than $1,000 (or whatever your major gift amount is) and dump them all into your portfolio for the year? Who Gets an Individual Major Donor Portfolio Cultivation Plan? .
sgEngage
APRIL 1, 2021
We identify another 2,500-5,000 patients who are included in direct mail acquisition appeals. The post Next Level Healthcare Fundraising: Using Gratitude to Qualify Donors first appeared on npENGAGE. Healthcare donor prospecting Grateful Patient Fundraising healthcare fundraising
NonProfit Hub
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
One of the basic tenants of successful fundraising is donor stewardship. Donors who have shown your organization some love through their gifts are at risk of walking away if not shown some love in return. Romancing your donors should be a top priority! Donor Retention Featured
Nonprofit Tech for Good
DECEMBER 12, 2019
Major donors are the most valuable supporters of the nonprofit world. Follow these three steps to engage and nurture the high net worth donors who share your vision. 1) Invite major donors to be an integral part of the work they’re funding.
NetWits
AUGUST 8, 2012
to learn more about the turn to online fundraising, the need for a multichannel approach and how direct mail is still alive and well. Online donor solicitations are powerful. The allure to both nonprofits and potential donors is obvious. The Surprising Truth About Online Donors. Many organizations see the immediacy of giving, the larger average donations from online donors, and the relatively low costs in producing solicitations and look no further.
NonProfit Hub
NOVEMBER 26, 2020
Your nonprofit’s donor retention rate is the percentage of donors who give from year to year, or over any other specific time period. Acquiring new donors through constant outreach is much more expensive over time. Which types saw the fewest donors return to give over time?
3rd Sector Labs
MARCH 1, 2015
Now, let’s talk about your donor database. Year after year you gather information about donors. Donors lapse. You keep mailing out newsletters and fundraising appeals. You keep adding new donors, new prospects and your mailing lists get larger. Is your organization is a donor data hoarder? Data hoarding extends far beyond just your donor data and CRM software. But for our purposes, let’s narrow the focus to donor data.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
JUNE 19, 2019
Your most loyal donors are your multichannel donors. Multichannel donors support you in every way possible. You should want all of your donors to interact with your organization the way multichannel donors do! According to a recent DonorPerfect study , you can expect that multichannel donors will contribute triple the amount of online-only and offline-only donors. How can you identify your multichannel donors? Send direct mail, too!
3rd Sector Labs
MAY 4, 2015
All charities need new donors, just like all businesses need new customers. Studies tell us again and again: it is cheaper to retain an existing donor (or consumer) than to acquire a new one. My charity needs new donors. Donors can come from anywhere. Direct mail campaigns. In short, every activity undertaken by the charity can generate new donors. If you don’t know where some new donors are coming from, then it is time to start tracking that too.
NetWits
JUNE 14, 2012
to learn more about the turn to online fundraising, the need for a multichannel approach and how direct mail is still alive and well. Online acquired donors are significantly younger, more affluent, and more generous than their offline counterparts. While the number one reason for giving, both online and off, is for emotional reasons, the online donor is more likely to respond only once to fulfill that emotional need, whereas the offline donor is more likely to give repeatedly.
3rd Sector Labs
JUNE 30, 2014
Many nonprofits don’t know their donor data. If we don’t know our donor data, how can we effectively plan a fundraising appeal? Combat the challenges of donor retention? So, how do we know that nonprofits don’t know their donor data? What’s worse, DONOR data degrades faster than most any other type of data. Because donors are people, and people’s lives change. Answer: only what is stored in the donor database.
Pamela Grow
JANUARY 13, 2021
This change would leave many of our donors (without email addresses) in the dark when it comes to news and feel-good stories about the organization. We continue to solicit donors using direct mail and emails. As a result, our sector’s donor retention stats will decline further.
NonProfit Hub
JUNE 12, 2020
However, during these discussions, many organizations ask the same question: “How do we attract more donors?” Start boosting your donor retention rate by focusing on those who are just giving to your nonprofit for the first time. Why First-Time Donor Retention is Important.
Pamela Grow
DECEMBER 8, 2020
GivingTuesday donors gave an astonishing $808 million online and $2.47 And a fair share of those donors was brand new! Resources: Grab Erica’s Monthly Donor Road Map here. Grab your Monthly Giving Ask template to help frame your direct mail and email asks.
Robert Weiner
JANUARY 15, 2015
A few months ago I wrote a post on the topic of whether nonprofits should delete old donor records. Not wanting mail? Fast forward to a couple of years ago, and we''re forwarded a press release of a $5M gift to an out-of-state university, in which it says the donor is an alumnus of our university (the donor wasn''t an alum of the university that got the gift, but it was in his home community).
BoardAssist
DECEMBER 15, 2014
Direct mail is a major workhorse for all nonprofits. And regardless of what you hear or think about online giving, most gifts still come via the mail. This week guest blogger Gail Perry is back with her top tips to help us all raise more money by mail. 112 Tips to Raise More Money by Mail. Direct mail is the most important fundraising and communications tool you have. Here’s a smart guide to help you nail all aspects of your mailing package.
Allegiance Group
NOVEMBER 12, 2007
He recently vowed that he would no longer fundraise for candidates who don’t allow people to opt out of snail mail appeals with their online gift: It really is infuriating. I blame direct mail consultants who charge per piece sent. I get direct mail from campaigns and it goes straight into the shredder and recycling bin. [.] Obviously, if it’s cost-effective to send direct mail to your online donors, many NPOs are going to do so.
The Fundraising Authority
DECEMBER 15, 2020
How are we going to shift our direct mail strategy to find more mid-level donors? Your donors (and prospective donors) will care about that mission. The best way to find donors like that is by staying mission-focused.
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