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…
Read MoreFundraiser Asks: How Do I Tell Compelling Stories When Our Cause Has No “Happy Endings”?
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…
Read MoreFundraising Is about Love … and It’s Not Always Easy
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…
Read More3 Temptations that Undermine Your Fundraising Storytelling, and How to Stop Them Cold
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,…
Read MoreHow AI Writing Can Defeat Your Best Projects … or Not
Artificial Intelligence invaded the members-only community of The Fundraisingology Lab on Facebook recently. Sean Triner posted a letter thanking members of our special community of fundraising professionals for their involvement and their work. What he didn’t say, at least at…
Read MoreWorried about “donor as hero” fundraising? Here’s another way to think about it
Trigger Warning: this post contains examples of fundraising that address child sex trafficking. Imagine this. As a smart fundraiser, you’ve put together a compelling appeal. It has an emotional story. A tangible offer. And direct asks in all the key…
Read MoreThe Right and Wrong Images for Ethical Fundraising
Should a fundraiser raise funds by showing photos of people in need, in pain, or otherwise showing weakness? We’ve all seen photos of people (children, usually), often in the developing world, who show clear signs of malnutrition and/or disease: They…
Read MoreFundraiser: Disobey Your English Teachers to Improve Your Writing
Before I found fundraising, I taught English. Mostly to first-year college students, usually some version of that English 101 course that you remember with either fondness or revulsion. We called it “writing,” but what we were teaching was “academic writing.”…
Read More3 Elements of Every Effective Fundraising Story
There’s a lot of theory about storytelling out there. Some of it is very helpful for hardworking fundraisers like you. Here’s what Writer’s Digest says every story needs: Orientation: The beginning of a story must grab the reader’s attention. Crisis: Something…
Read More5 Proven Ways to Make Your Fundraising Life Easier
Call me lazy. I prefer to call myself busy. Either way, I’m always looking for ways to make life easier. And you and I are in the same boat: We create fundraising messages, and it’s hard work. Especially this time…
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