SIGNUP FOR E-NEWS AND FREE FUNDRAISING TIPS

Cost of Fundraising, Jeff Brooks

These are dark times for direct mail fundraising. Response rates are down (and have been trending lower for more than a decade). At the same time, costs of paper, printing, and postage keep going up, usually faster than inflation. And…

VIDEO: How Much Do YOU Cost Your Organisation?

November 9, 2018

Cost of Fundraising, Sean Triner

Should you write that appeal? Plan that event? Make those phone calls? Or would it be smarter to outsource it? There’s an amazingly easy way to calculate that. In this short video, I’ll show how an astoundingly complex bundle of…

Free Toilet Paper! How Much Is It Going to Cost?

July 23, 2018

Ad Agencies, Cost of Fundraising, Sean Triner

Someone recently asked me a very good question: Are in-kind donations part of fundraisers’ responsibility? Or is it the responsibility of a procurement officer? Charities love to get stuff for free. When I was a new fundraiser, fresh out of…

How Cost-Effectiveness Could Destroy Your Charity

July 23, 2018

Cost of Fundraising, Sean Triner

Write down these three things: Your favourite charity — not the one you work for How you support that charity (monthly gift, volunteer, occasional donation) Why you support them Here’s mine: My favourite charity: The Sumba Foundation How I support…

Use Postage to Maximize Impact in Direct Mail Fundraising

January 31, 2018

Cost of Fundraising, Jeff Brooks, Training

It’s easy to get so caught up in the creativity of a direct mail pack that you forget one of the most fundamental facts about it: It’s a piece of mail that goes through the postal system. And that means…

The Most Crazy Thing I Ever Heard

August 16, 2017

Cost of Fundraising, Sean Triner, Supporter Connection Survey

I heard the most crazy thing ever: A frustrated charity fundraiser told me that they had to cancel their annual survey this year. Why? Had it failed to work? Not at all. It was still gathering game-changing data from their…

Do I Still Love Premiums!?

June 26, 2017

Acquisition, Assistance Dogs Australia, Burnet Institute, Cost of Fundraising, Creative, Fundraising 101, Premiums, Sean Triner

Are premium direct mails still pulling their weight in donor acquisition? A couple of years ago, I wrote an article on my blog and a similar one on 101 Fundraising about premium direct mail. Direct mail, and in particular, premium…

The Calculation That Can Chart Your Future

June 5, 2017

Cost of Fundraising, Jeff Brooks, Net Present Value, Pareto Principle

Net Present Value Net present value (NPV) is a finance term that’s meant to help you decide whether an investment is worthwhile or not. It’s pretty much the same for fundraisers, who can calculate NPV this way: Total projected lifetime…

How the Way You Measure Success Can Shape Your Organization’s Future

May 7, 2017

Cost of Fundraising, Jeff Brooks, Return on Investment, ROI