This is a case study from Friends of Indy Animals on 15 tips you can use for your next newsletter appeal…
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“Branding won’t let us…” Ugh. Need I say more? Apparently I do…
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Last week, I was in San Diego, presenting for my 6th? 7th? time at the Nonprofit Storytelling conference. A conference I have referred to as my favourite since my first. My session was about "Creative rule breaking for direct mail nerds"…
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Taking a moment to honour 25 things I have learned after 25 years of working in the sector…
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The creative brief: Craft and send a direct mail pack to donors about our new capital campaign and inspire them to give to help us get closer to our goal. Easy peasy, right?
Except… sometimes (ie: almost all of the time), your capital campaign case for support isn’t targeted or designed for your average annual donors. The question becomes, how can you make it relevant and compelling for those donors too?
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April is a strange time of year to be blogging about Santa Claus, but that’s what you get sometime. Here is a little bit of inspiration hopefully, pulled and edited from John Lepp’s upcoming book, Creative Deviations…
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Three more reflections from this year that really focus on creative storytelling.
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Some quick suggestions and thoughts about your year end emails!
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Could it be? A blog post?
Yes, tis the season for a bit of reflection and sharing of 12 things that have been occupying our brains through 2021. Has it been a bit crazy for you too?
A case study about a recent mail pack we worked on for the STEGH Foundation and filled with 26 ideas, tip and tricks you can steal for your next appeal to make it more effective!
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In this final part of a 4 part series, we dive deep into these “extra” pieces you sometimes find in mail packs. Inserts, lift notes, buckslips, etc. These pieces can either solidify getting that gift or maybe make your donor run screaming away. (Maybe that’s a little over the top…). Let’s see what Dale got from some of her charities in today’s post.
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This week, we take a closer look at the often misunderstood and appreciated “Reply Form.” Get this part wrong and you can kiss a potential gift goodbye. It’s that important. We will share somethings you can consider to make yours better and more effective!
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Today we wade into the stuff inside the envelope. Starting with the appeal letter. What did we notice and how can we make it better? This post will take a closer look.
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We took some time to look through “Dale’s” mailbox. What did we find and what can we learn about the current state of direct mail? This post will look just at the outer envelope.
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2020 was a wild fundraising year. Anecdotally I can say that those orgs and fundraisers who put in their best effort to tell great stories, clearly asking for something in a thoughtful way did extremely well last year.
I wanted to take a moment to share our top 6 takeaways from an appeal we worked on with our friends at St. Thomas Elgin Hospital Foundation. Spoiler - it did 515% better…
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I can't believe it's been a month since we hosted the first ever Individual Giving Summit (#IGSummit). The broadcast went around the world and we had fundraisers from every corner of the planet who care about, nerd out about and obsess about individual giving and direct response show up and participate. ANYHOO... I wanted to share something really awesome.
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I’m proud to point out that I’ve been a student of direct response and direct marketing for more than 20 years. That’s a lot of ideas, testing, concepts, tactics, tricks, tips, nerd knowledge and history packed into this tiny brain of mine.
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If you’ve seen me speak, you’ve heard me talk about “Ask for one thing”. I learned a lifetime ago that, in testing, the more you ask for, or the more check boxes you have on your reply form, the less likely you’ll get a positive result…
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Recently, Julie Edwards, Executive Director at The Humane Society of Northeast Georgia, asked us to do a #donorlove audit of her newsletter. These audits can be useful since they are specific to your program, your appeal, your newsletter, whatever it might be…
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…In theory.Would your donor feel that way? Mary Cahalane (Hands-On Fundraising) and I sat down to give you a tried and tested YEAR END checklist you can use as you sit down to craft the most meaningful appeal of the year…
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