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Adrian Sargeant, Sean Triner, Testing

I asked professor Adrian Sargeant of The Philanthropy Centre about the most shocking thing he’s learned in fundraising testing. Here’s what he told me: Blokes don’t seem to care about morality. I’ll leave it at that because you’ll enjoy what…

VIDEO: Adrian Sargeant Reveals How Fundraising Meets Human Needs

June 30, 2018

Adrian Sargeant, Creative, Jeff Brooks

Professor Adrian Sargeant of The Philanthropy Centre describes research into some of the human needs that charitable giving can help people meet: Connectedness Autonomy Competence Growth Purpose in Life Self-acceptance When fundraisers aim their strategy and messaging at these fundamental…

VIDEO: Roger Craver on the Amazing Donor-Behavior Prediction Tool You Can Use Now

April 16, 2018

Donor Loyalty, Jeff Brooks, Roger Craver

Roger Craver, founder of DonorVoice and editor at the must-read blog, The Agitator, describes the power of the donor commitment survey, a simple three-question survey that’s highly predictive of donor giving. He’ll show you how to put it to work…

What Makes Donors Respond?

December 11, 2017

Creative, Examples of Good Fundraising, Jeff Brooks, Sean Triner

I found two interesting online banner ads. One from Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, the other from UNICEF USA. Each ad is half brilliant. And half not-so-brilliant. Sean and I talked about these ads and the easy step each of them…

Do long letters in fundraising still work?

The Weird Power of Long Fundraising Letters

October 23, 2017

Case for Support, Copywriting, Creative, Emergency Fundraising, Heart Foundation Australia, Offer, Proposition, Sean Triner, SOFII, Starlight Children's Foundation Australia

Long letters work better. But don’t just take it from me. Dr Barnardo wrote a four-page appeal letter in London in the 1880s using classic direct mail techniques: Underlining, urgency, dollar handles, specific ask and a clear reference to what…

Six Steps to Make Your Communications Sticky

September 1, 2017

Chip and Dan Heath, Communications, Copywriting, Creative, Emotion, Fundraising Books, Jeff Brooks, Made to Stick, Sean Triner

How do you make sure that everything you write grabs the reader’s attention, engages them and makes something happen? After all, there is no point writing stuff that doesn’t have the desired outcome. Even if that outcome is to help…

How to Raise Funds on Obscure Holidays and Awareness Days

July 3, 2017

Copywriting, Creative, Jeff Brooks

July is National Wheelchair Beautification Month here in the USA. It’s also Cord Blood Awareness Month. I’m not telling you this in order to mock these awareness holidays. There are no doubt quality nonprofit organizations that use these days to…

Does It Really Matter If I DON’T Donate?

June 22, 2017

Mark Phillips, Save the Children, Save the Children Australia, Save the Children Switzerland, Save the Children UK, Sean Triner

Fundraisers are doing incredibly important work. You are connecting people who care with people (or environment/animals/causes) in need. Most of us are active in fundraising because we want to change things from bad to good. As Tom Ahern says, donors…

How Many Times Can You Mail Your Donors Before They Rise Up And Kill You?

May 29, 2017