annual appeal Archives - Page 3 of 13

The True Meaning of Giving Tuesday

This year Giving Tuesday is November 29^th. So, soon.

Now is a good time to think about whether or not you want to jump on the bandwagon and, if so, how. There is more than one way to slice this particular piece of pie. And, really, that’s what Giving Tuesday is – just one piece of your total annual fundraising strategy.

You don’t want to blow it out of proportion. But you probably don’t want to ignore it. Rather, plan ahead to put it into a context where it will complement your other year-end communications and fundraising strategies.

Let’s take a closer look.

What is Giving Tuesday?

I confess I’ve been a bit of an apologist for the “holiday.” I like to turn the tables by actually giving to donors, rather than asking them to give yet one more time during this busiest fundraising time of the year.

Plus, I often say if you want gifts, you must give them. What better time to do so than on giving Tuesday?

Of course, asking can also be a form of giving. So, I love appeals on this date that give people the option of giving money or supporting you in other ways.

It’s all philanthropy (aka “love of humanity”).

Key: Approach GT Strategy with a Giving Spirit

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September 22, 2022 Leave a commentAnnual GivingBy Claire Axelrad

Scope: The Key to Donor Generosity?

There’s a powerful psychological principle known as the “identifiable victim effect.”

It has to do with how you describe the scope of the problem you’re asking donors to help address. And what they will do as a result of how they perceive this scope.

Is it a scope they can visualize and relate to?
Or is the number so large it’s difficult for them to wrap their brains around it?

There’s another related psychological principle known as “scope insensitivity.”

It applies when a number is too large for people to really comprehend its meaning. If you tell me something costs $1 billion, I really have little idea how this might differ from $10 million. Both numbers are equally overwhelming. I can’t picture how high a pile of either would be in dollar bills or even $100 bills. I have no sensitivity as to the scope because I simple can’t sense it.

Fundraisers absolutely need to know about, and apply, these principles.

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September 19, 2022 Leave a commentAnnual GivingBy Claire Axelrad

8-Step Annual Fundraising Appeal Self-Test – Part 2

Fundamentals are important! Before writing your appeal, it’s good to remind yourself of the basics to make sure you’ve got all bases covered. Look at the elements you want to include; make sure you’re applying them. In this two-part series, I’m calling out eight appeal writing fundamentals. In Part 1 we looked at the first four:

1. You
2. Easy
3. Welcome
4. Heart-awakening

Today we continue with four more.

1. Best Self
2. Uplift
3. Unconditional Love
4. Urgency

Let’s get started!

5. BEST SELF

What if part of the reason our sector has so little understanding of our supporters is because we think we’ve done the work of understanding by slapping the activist, volunteer, donor (insert other generic label here) on people?

— Kevin Shulman, Founder, DonorVoice

Donors have their own sense of identity; they’re people first. Trying to categorize them neatly into donor “personas” (e.g., “Wanda Widow,” “Busby Business Man,” “Suzy Soccer Mom,)” doesn’t work nearly as well as helping them express their best self or selves.

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September 12, 2022 2 CommentsAnnual GivingBy Claire Axelrad

8-Step Annual Fundraising Appeal Self-Test – Part 1

I never begin writing a fundraising appeal without beginning with a template and checklist. It’s always good to remind yourself of the fundamentals.

1. YOU

“The most beautiful thing in the world is you.”

— Alvin Ailey, choreographer and dancer, (1931-1989)

This gets to who you’re writing to. Not to yourself, program staff. or board of directors. You’re writing to ONE donor. It’s about their ego, not yours. Their needs, not yours.

Take a good hard look at your letter. How often do you use “I,” “my,” “our,” “we,” or the name of your organization vs. “you” and “your?”

Fix this! Here’s a “you test” you can use from Bloomerang.

Here’s a “don’t” example:

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September 8, 2022 2 CommentsAnnual GivingBy Claire Axelrad

Brilliant Writing Tips to Boost Your Nonprofit Fundraising Appeal

Fundraising copywriter extraordinaire, Lisa Sargent, recently shared a brilliant piece of writing on the Moceanic blog. Appropriately, the subject matter – “6 Winning Ways to Start Your Next Fundraising Appeal” — was all about brilliant writing. Specifically, fundraising appeal writing. I commend the full article to you, as she fills it with juicy, specific examples. But if you’re short on time, here are the key take-aways – plus some of my own thoughts and examples — to get your reader well “into” your appeal – right from the get go!

Next time you’re staring at a blank piece of paper, try BEGINNING with:

The first line’s job: Get the reader to the second line. Otherwise, all your carefully crafted prose is for naught. The first line ideas below are tested and true; you can’t go wrong with any of them. Just switch them up so that not every one of your appeals starts the same way. Why? Because (1) not every style is your best bet for every situation, and (2) not all your readers are alike. Some prefer whodunnit mysteries, others prefer coming of age tales, and others historical fiction. Still, everyone will respond to a good story.

Everyone.

An appeal without a story is a true crime. As business and thought leader Jim Collins taught us:

“We are known by the stories we can tell.”

So, before putting pen to paper, think about a story you can tell. Only then should you begin.

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September 5, 2022 Leave a commentAnnual GivingBy Claire Axelrad

How to Project Manage Your Nonprofit Story

Your nonprofit’s story is the whole ball of wax.

Without it, you’ve got nothing.

So let’s really talk about this for a minute.

A story is not “Give us money because we’re good guys and do good work.”

Nor are “Sustain humanitarian aid,” “Support the arts,” or “Save our rivers” stories.

Sure, there may be some implicit narratives hiding within these phrases, but they’re really tag lines or calls to action. Useful, sure. But not until you’ve laid the groundwork of telling a compelling story.

You never start a story with “And they lived happily ever after.”

Similarly, you should never start a fundraising appeal with “We saved the whales.” Where’s the emotion and drama here?

You know donors are moved to give through emotion, right?

The best way to get inside a donor’s head and heart is by telling a dramatic, emotional story. Something that taps into their core and arouses their curiosity, or some deeper feeling like sadness, fear or anger.

You see, human brains are wired for story.

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August 22, 2022 Leave a commentContent MarketingBy Claire Axelrad

Why are You Cutting Down Trees and Asking Me to Pay For It? 5 Cardinal Sins for Fundraising Renewal Appeals (aka, making a poor 2nd impression)

I’ve taken to including a series of “DO’s” and “DON’Ts” for all sorts of fundraising and nonprofit marketing messages over the past several years. My purpose is not to shame anyone, but simply to provide educational moments offering example-based food for thought as you craft your own appeals, thank you’s, reports and more.

Here’s an old, brief post of mine written before I started the “Do’s and Don’ts” feature. I happened upon it while searching for something else, and it gave me pause. It’s simple, to-the-point and, alas, still relevant. Because I see these kinds of mistakes still being made. All. The. Time.

So, I thought I’d update a bit and re-share.

Why Do Fundraisers Who Should Know Better Keep Committing These Sins?

Maybe it’s because of the “monkey see, monkey do” nature of human beings. We see someone else do something and assume it’s good practice. Especially when they’re bigger than us and/or well regarded.

This ‘oldie but goodie’ I’m about to share followed on another post about the importance of making a good first impression with potential donors. With a renewal appeal, if you want to keep these folks, it’s equally important to make a good second impression.

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August 11, 2022 2 CommentsAnnual GivingBy Claire Axelrad

Why Smart Nonprofits Focus on Growing Monthly Giving

For at least the past five years I’ve been actively encouraging nonprofits of all stripes to begin or ramp up their monthly giving program. It made sense then. It makes even more sense now.

Why?

If there’s anything the past couple of years have taught us, you need a dependable source of income in order:

To be able to sustain programming for problems that never go away
To be able to weather current storms, anticipated and unanticipated, and
To be able to plan for the future.

It turns out there’s nothing as dependable as monthly donors.

In fact, donors who give to you recurrently sustain you so well a monthly giving strategy is often called a sustainer program.

Do you deserve a group of people who will sustain you through thick and thin?

Of course you do!

But you don’t always get what you deserve – unless you make it happen.

How to Make Monthly Giving Happen

As someone poetic so eloquently put it:

“Nothing will work unless you do.”

— Maya Angelou

There are four steps to a successful monthly giving work plan:

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April 11, 2022 2 CommentsAnnual GivingBy Claire Axelrad

How Often Should You Mail to Your Nonprofit Donors?

I decided to write this post due to the number of times nonprofits ask me “How often should we mail to our donors?” The corollary question is “How often can we ask people to give?”

The answer?

Well… if there was one quick answer I wouldn’t have needed to write a whole article. I’d just have given you a headline with a definitive response!

I know you want a definite answer.

And I could give you one. But it wouldn’t be the truth. Because the truth is different for every nonprofit. And the truth will even be different for your nonprofit at different points in your life cycle.

There are two definitive things I can tell you:

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November 22, 2021 Leave a commentAnnual GivingBy Claire Axelrad