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December week 3 1024x768 1

Two Books That Will Help You Write Like a Pro

Books, Writing
Every fundraiser I know is obsessed with learning. (The ones who think they can do it all with their innate talent never last very long.) The great ones read every fundraising book they can get their hands on. They follow…
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Two Things That Turn Your Fundraising into “Crap” – and How to Avoid Them

Writing
“The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock­proof, crap detector.” That’s what Ernest Hemingway said. A super-helpful corollary to that is from author and cultural critic Neil Postman: “At any given time, the chief source of…
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Week 3 What is Story

The 3 Features of Powerful Fundraising Stories

Storytelling
A wonderful and exasperating thing about little kids is how much they love to hear stories. Over and over again. When my kids were small, they couldn’t get enough of one particular story… “Tell the Polyphemus Story!” they’d clamor. I…
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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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How to Tell the Donors Story in Your Fundraising

How to Tell the Donor’s Story in Your Fundraising

Storytelling, Writing
You already know that storytelling is the gasoline, the petrol, of the fundraising car. We tell stories instead of merely stating facts because stories move people to action. You raise a lot more money with stories. Maybe you’ve heard the…
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whats your story 1

Why It’s So Hard to Tell Stories – and How to Make It Easier

Storytelling
Stories can be fundraising magic. You know that. What doesn’t get said out loud often enough is this: Stories can be difficult to tell! When they’re done well, they come across as effortless, almost as if all someone had to…
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Pop Art Older Donors

Does Your Fundraising Include or Exclude? (It Matters!)

Equality
Imagine this: a nonprofit arts organization that had a sign outside their venue saying: “Wheelchair users not welcome.” That would be reprehensible. And in many places, illegal. An organization that would do that would clearly have its basic values twisted…
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Pop Art Help

Fundraiser Asks: How Do I Tell Compelling Stories When Our Cause Has No “Happy Endings”?

Storytelling
Question from the inbox: Do you have any tips on storytelling when there is no happy ending? The disease that I fundraise for is terminal, aggressive, and traumatic. Every diagnosis is a death sentence, and the average life span from…
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Pop Art 2 Hearts flower

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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Pop Art Great

3 Temptations that Undermine Your Fundraising Storytelling, and How to Stop Them Cold

Storytelling
You already know this: Fundraising is built on storytelling. That’s because stories activate the human brain. There are countless types of information available to us – from spreadsheets to photographs – but it’s stories that help us understand, care, connect,…
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