Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
You’ve got to fuel up to get to your destination. It’s not smart to run out of gas!
Are you muddling along because you don’t have the resources you need to invigorate your fundraising? Are you working hard, but maybe not so smart? Are you making the most of opportunities to steward donors so they’ll repeat their gifts? And what about your donor thank you’s – are they good enough to get you a second gift? Take a look at this week’s links if you could use help in any of these areas.
Investing in Fundraising
Click it: 5 Taboos Nonprofits Must Get Over. Nell Edgington speaks to a few of my soapbox issues: (1) you’ve simply got to spend money to make money; (2) you’ve got to pay for talent to run an effective operation, and (3) board members should give and raise funds. You can’t solve some of society’s most complex problems on the cheap. Period.
Click-It: Thinking About a New Donor Management System for Your Organization? Read This First. NTen has come out with their first comprehensive analysis of nonprofit donor management systems for small to medium-sized nonprofits in the past five years. It’s a super-useful up-to-date picture of the landscape today, and you can get their downloadable report for free.
Smart Year-End Fundraising
Click-It: How to Write an Effective Teaser for Your Direct Mail Fundraising Package. In case you’ve written a great appeal but haven’t thought much yet about the carrier envelope, here’s a timely piece from Joanne Fritz to help make sure your envelope gets opened FAST. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Click-it: Heads-up for Year-End Email is a reminder from the Agitator editors that changes to Gmail tabs may mean some of your precious email is getting lost in new promotion filters. Find information here to fix this before it’s too late!
Click-it: Google “Quick Actions” Put Clickable CTAs in Subject Lines. Never fear! The universe taketh away, the universe giveth. The folks at HubSpot have some new cool tools that may make it easier to get folks to click through to your actions – changes at Gmail be danged! Sender names and subject lines have always been important, but with Quick Actions, they’ll become the crux of your email marketing strategy. Check this out; then call IT.
Stewardship
Click-It: The Power of Place – Making the Most of Tours for Donors reminds you about one of the most effective arrows in your quiver when it comes to effectively stewarding your supporters. Are you taking good advantage?
Thank You Letters
Click-it: Thank You Letters: Powerful and Profitable. Penelope Burk’s research confirms that nothing is more important to donors (at least if you want to get a second gift) than thank you letters. Nothing. Here’s your opportunity to submit one of your thank you letters for inclusion in Vol. III of Burk’s Donor Thank You Letter Project. If yours is included, she’ll send you a compilation of all the best thank you letters – and this is something that isn’t even for sale. You can enter here before December 15th. If you win, please let me know!
DON’T WANT TO MISS:
Speaking of great donor thank you’s, you may want to check out my two guides on the subject: (1) Creative Ways to Use Thank You’s to Retain Donors for Life or (2) the expanded Attitude of Gratitude Donor Guide. They’re both 100% guaranteed.
Photo: Flickr, Ruben Vermeersch
