6 Types of Modern Jargon to Avoid in Your Fundraising Appeal

Who writes your annual appeal letter? If it’s your executive director or your board chair there’s a very good chance it’s filled with jargon. This (pardon my non-jargon language) sucks.

Jargon is the opposite of constituent-centered writing.

It’s not your writer’s fault. Most of us use jargon all the time without being aware we’re doing so. It’s the language we speak when we work together in groups. It’s a sort of short-hand. Acronyms. Labels. Terms of art. It pops up all over the place. But, again, when it comes to using it in your fundraising appeals it’s bad news. Yet it’s exceedingly difficult to avoid. Why?

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3 Secrets to Boost Fundraising Response: Help Donors Stretch Their Dollars + More

Your year-end appeal is less likely to fall on deaf ears than at any other time of year. Why? It’s the time of year when people are naturally inclined towards counting their blessings and feeling both grateful and giving. Some nonprofits raise as much as 40% or more of their annual giving total during the last few months of the year. And 33% of December gifts are made on December 31st. It would be a shame to miss out on this!

In essence, you’ve got people where you want them in November and December. This being the case, don’t you want to put your best foot forward?

Top Secret Stamp

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…

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Check Your Next Appeal Letter Against This 16-Point List Before Sending

Are you starting to worry about whether you’ll raise enough money this year to meet your goals?

Are you concerned because last year’s appeal didn’t raise as much as you had hoped?

Are you fresh out of ideas for what to put into an appeal to generate the giving response you need to sustain vital programs?

Fear not!  Help is on the way!  Just use this 16-point checklist before you send anything to your printer.

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A Guide to Really Making Your Donors Your Heroes: Case Example

You’ve probably heard this advice before. “Make your donors your heroes.” It’s a lot easier said than done.

As Jeff Brooks opined in You and your donors: Who’s the sidekick?, too often we get it backwards and tell donors how awesome we are; then we ask “How’d you like to be my sidekick?” Rather, we should think of ourselves as their sidekick.

One nonprofit director who truly understands this is Julia Wilson, E.D. of One Justice. [A former client of mine, I keep my eye on them like a proud Mama hen watching her little baby chick fly boldly off on her own). After their most recent, highly successful fundraising event, Julia wrote to me saying:

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Clairity Click-it: Invest in Fundraising; Social Media Measurement; Donor Retention; Annual Fund; Major Gifts

Invest in Fundraising

This end of July (can you believe it?) Clairity Click-it brings a lot of great tips about how to plan ahead to take your fundraising to new heights next year. We start with resources, move on to thinking about measuring success, and then end with three core programs every development program should have in place: Donor Retention, Annual Fund and Major Gifts. You’ve got just about a month to get your ducks in order before prime fundraising season begins. To your success!

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What do Lukewarm Tapioca and Molten Chocolate Cake have to do with Fundraising?

Or… What Your Donors Won’t Tell You about Your Nonprofit Messaging.

At first blush, tepid tapioca and gooey hot chocolate might appear to have nothing whatsoever to do with securing vital resources to further your mission. Blush again.

Blush hard. Think of all the good things you could accomplish were you to more effectively master the art and science of fundraising. Feel the warm pink tinge beginning to creep up your neck as you embrace the errors of your ways over the past year. Or two. Or 10. Or even more.

Are you still doing things like it was 1985? 2000? 2008? If so, you should probably be embarrassed. Because I know very few organizations who are succeeding today using yesterday’s strategies.

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