Fear not! The Nonprofit Blog Carnival is back, offering tricks and treats galore from nonprofit experts all around the web to help you find, cultivate, solicit and steward your major donors.
Pick a goodie or two from this great baker’s dozen. After all… it’s the season!
DetailsThis week’s links include some thought-provoking stuff. And a reminder of what you need to do to prepare for Halloween!
Email Frequency
Click-It: How Many Fundraising Emails Should You Send a Year?
DetailsI unlocked Pandora’s box with my last post, 5 Things Your Board and CEO Don’t Get About Fundraising and Donors. Especially when it comes to board members, many of you say their behavior has you scratching your heads much of the time. So, here are 5 more things that too many boards simply don’t seem to understand:
1. It costs money to make money. This one is odd, since many of these folks seem to understand the concept of ‘investment’ when it comes to their day jobs.
DetailsDonors feel good when they give. There’s plenty of research showing philanthropic giving is good for people. It makes folks happier, healthier and even more successful. So there is no need to apologize when asking for support where the need is authentic. In fact, asking others to participate in philanthropy is a great gift. Just don’t forget to thank them personally and promptly when they do, so they also experience the joy of having made the right decision.
Donors respond to sizzle, not steak.
DetailsThis week’s links, some free stuff, plus last chance for two great learning opportunities that will help you right now.. Check ‘em out!
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I adore color. I’m definitely not someone who wears only black! I thought it would be interesting to think about how we use color in our donor communications, and happened on several great infographics, including The Psychology of Color in Design and Color Psychology and Marketing. They offer a terrific overview of the meaning of colors in the western hemisphere. What you’ll learn is eye opening.
Working on your year-end appeal? Flying by the seat of your pants? Struggling with your copy? Think your copy is okay, but not super inspiring? Worried that folks may not even open your envelope? Crafting fundraising appeals is not rocket science, but you do have to adhere to certain guidelines if you want to achieve blast-off. So… here come some guidelines!
DetailsThat’s the question that has fundraisers everywhere scratching their heads and crying in their beers.
Hmmn…
Donor retention has continued to plummet every year for the past seven years. It’s really, truly an awful problem. For some unknown reason, all that hard work you put into acquiring new donors is, seemingly, being wasted. Why?
DetailsIn the children’s game nobody wants to be left holding the hot potato. Does that sound like the way social media is ‘played’ at your nonprofit? Is anyone in charge? Who sets goals? Who decides what to do/not do? Who evaluates success? Where does the buck stop?
Too many organizations still have not taken charge of their digital strategy. It’s beyond time for this to happen, as I explain in
DetailsThis week’s links are a real potpourri of pretty darn interesting stuff. Check ‘em out!
Events
Click-It: The Secret of the Five Top. Simply brilliant advice from Seth Godin. I dare you to try it at your next fundraising event. And if you’ve done it, let us all know how it worked!
Mobile
Click-It: Top 5 Reasons to Use Mobile. This post has all the data you need to
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