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2 Truths Your Donors Wish You Understood about Direct Mail

Creativity, Direct Mail, Donor Care, Donor Love, Donor Psychology, Writing
I am a Gen Xer. I am not the core target market for direct mail. In my early twenties I had to learn two lessons quickly in order to do my job as a Fundraising Appeal Manager. Lesson one: The…
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What Your Direct Mail is Like for Real People

Direct Mail, Donor Psychology
I’ve spent a good decade and a half defending direct mail. Mostly in response to anxious nonprofit insiders saying things like “I’d hate to get all the mail we send.” I won’t pretend everyone you mail wants it. And I…
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What can we do better?

[VIDEO] Sean Asks Adrian Sargeant: What Is the Biggest Thing in Fundraising No One Is Doing?

Donor Psychology
Sean had Professor Adrian Sargeant of The Philanthropy Centre on the line, so he asked him this: What is the most important thing in fundraising that no one is doing? We are pretty good at describing problems and getting donors to…
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VIDEO: Adrian Sargeant on the Most SHOCKING Thing I’ve Learned from Fundraising Testing

Fundraising, Donor Psychology
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…
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Your donors are not robots

VIDEO: Adrian Sargeant Reveals How Fundraising Meets Human Needs

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

Donor Psychology
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…
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What makes donors respond - the image or the copy?

What Makes Donors Respond?

Donor Psychology
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…
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Do long letters in fundraising still work?

The Weird Power of Long Fundraising Letters

Direct Mail, Donor Psychology, Major and Mid Value Donors
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…
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Made to stick

Six Steps to Make Your Communications Sticky

Donor Love, Branding, Donor Psychology, Storytelling
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…
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How to Raise Funds on Obscure Holidays and Awareness Days

Donor Psychology
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…
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