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How Fundraising Words Are Different from Sales Words

Bequests and Legacies, Donor Psychology
Excerpted from The Storytelling Fundraiser by Professor Russell James. The full book (along with many other fundraising resources) is available for free at Encourage Generosity.   Isn’t fundraising just sales? Whether it’s a used car or insurance or scholarships, sales…
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Fundraising Is about Love … and It’s Not Always Easy

Donor Psychology
Worried that your fundraising communications are promoting “saviorism”? You are not alone. In many sectors, fundraisers feel trapped between messaging that perpetuates harmful beliefs and practices … and messages that don’t effectively connect with donors. We brought together some fundraising…
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Donors are from Mars, Nonprofits are from Venus: Here’s What You Can Do about it!

Donor Love, Donor Psychology
Have you noticed that as soon as a human being starts working for a nonprofit, something changes in them? They start talking like robots, using lots of big words, and trying to sound as impressive as possible as if the…
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How to Create Amazing Fundraising That Goes Beyond “Donor as Hero”

Donor Psychology
June Steward previously wrote about the challenges of effectively motivating donors to give while fully respecting the dignity of those donors who wish to help, and without promoting a sense of “white saviourism.” (See Worried about “donor as hero” fundraising?…
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Are You Fundraising in the Right “World”? It Makes All the Difference!

Donor Psychology, Storytelling
One of the reasons fundraising is such a challenge is that all of us – donors and fundraisers alike – live simultaneously in two different worlds:  “Story World,” the part of the human mind that acts on emotion, social cues,…
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3 Ways to Raise Funds When Your Cause Isn’t Exciting

Donor Psychology, Writing
I’ve heard many a fundraiser bemoan the fact that their cause isn’t easy.   What do they consider “easy”? They often say it’s cancer. Or helping children. Or rescuing animals.  Whether those topics are actually easier or not is debatable.…
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How to Build Deep and Long-Lasting Connections with Your Donors

Books, Donor Psychology
Book Review: Hooked on a Feeling: How the passion and devotion for good causes become memories and identities by Francesco Ambrogetti Francesco has done it again. He’s written a deeply researched book that helps us understand the sometimes puzzling truth…
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VIDEO – The Power of Emotional Intelligence in Fundraising

Donor Psychology
I had a great conversation the other day with one of my favorite fundraising gurus, Jen Love, of Agents of Good. We played a very nerdy game. We challenged each other with some not-so-great fundraising messages and asked how these…
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5 Ways Charitable Giving Is Good For Donors

Donor Love, Donor Psychology
I lost my Mom to Parkinson’s disease. It was a long and terrible struggle. Toward the end, I was her caregiver. I watched helplessly as the disease took more and more of her away — from herself and from the…
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Everything You Need to Know About Fundraising in 3 Words

Donor Psychology
Here are three words that will transform your fundraising: Belief is enough. A few weeks ago, we posted an article on this blog titled It Takes 2 Cultures to Make a Great Nonprofit — and That Can Be Hard! It’s about…
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