Fiona McPhee Archives

2 Truths Your Donors Wish You Understood about Direct Mail

November 4, 2019

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…

What Your Direct Mail is Like for Real People

October 7, 2019

Fiona McPhee

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…

3 Last-Minute Tweaks for Your End-of-Year Campaign

September 30, 2019

Fiona McPhee

Direct Mail

Tweak: a fine adjustment to a mechanism or system Here are some fine adjustments you can do that can meaningfully improve your upcoming year-end campaign. Tweak One Make a direct ask. As in “Fiona, will you please make a donation…

4 Ways to Secure That All-Important Second Gift

September 2, 2019

Fiona McPhee

Direct Mail, Donor Care, Donor Love

I met up with a fundraiser — let’s call him Brian — a couple of years ago to talk about the work my team had been doing for their donor acquisition program. The direct mail acquisition was doing really well.…

My Worst Fundraising Fail, and What You Can Learn from It

August 12, 2019

Fiona McPhee

Boards and Fundraising

When Jeff suggested this blog topic my immediate reaction was, Um, no, I’ll look silly. Reality is we all make mistakes … and my best fundraising learnings have come from my fails. So here you go … In my early…

5 Tips and Tricks to Loving Your Donors

July 8, 2019

Fiona McPhee

Donor Love

For many years I gave to an organisation that organised an annual fun day for children with disabilities. The kids and their caregivers were hosted at a day-long party with activities, games and entertainment accessible to all. I have no…

5 Reasons You Must Invest in Donor Service

June 24, 2019

Fiona McPhee

Donor Love

In the commercial world, there is no arguing that: Customer service has long been recognised as an incredibly important revenue driver. Excellent customer service vastly lowers churn rate (loss of customers). When complaints are handled well,  customers become more loyal than they were before…

The Most Important Gift from Your Donor – It’s the 2nd, Not the 1st!

June 10, 2019

Fiona McPhee

Direct Mail, Donor Care, Donor Love

I started my working life in customer service, selling women’s shoes. This had two major impacts on my life. I have a shoe addiction that appears to be incurable. I have always believed that understanding your customer leads to the best…

6 Ways to Measure Your Fundraising to Understand Your Donors

June 3, 2019

Fiona McPhee

Maths of Fundraising

I love data. Please don’t worry about me, I also like skiing, Star Wars, sneakers, dancing, and playing Lego with my daughter. I also really like people-watching. I can easily spend hours watching people and pondering why they are where…

Should My Monthly Giving Program Have a Name?

May 27, 2019

Fiona McPhee

Monthly Giving

Giving your monthly giving program a name is a smart move. Unless it isn’t smart. If trying to come up with a name delays starting your Monthly Giving program, don’t name it! Also don’t name it if it becomes a…

2 Truths Your Donors Wish You Understood about Direct Mail

What Your Direct Mail is Like for Real People

3 Last-Minute Tweaks for Your End-of-Year Campaign

4 Ways to Secure That All-Important Second Gift

My Worst Fundraising Fail, and What You Can Learn from It

5 Tips and Tricks to Loving Your Donors

5 Reasons You Must Invest in Donor Service

The Most Important Gift from Your Donor – It’s the 2nd, Not the 1st!

6 Ways to Measure Your Fundraising to Understand Your Donors

Should My Monthly Giving Program Have a Name?

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Jeff Brooks’ Webinar: Your Roadmap to Record-Smashing Direct Mail This Year End

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Jeff Brooks’ Webinar: Your Roadmap to Record-Smashing Direct Mail This Year End

SESSION OPTION 2:

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Los Angeles: 5pm Thursday, Aug 23
Sydney: 10am Friday, Aug 24
Auckland: 12 Noon Friday, Aug 24
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SIGNUP FOR E-NEWS AND FREE FUNDRAISING TIPS

Nearly every single email can help you raise more money for your cause. You don't want to miss out.

Topics

Tags

Blogs We Think You’ll Love

Dive Into Smarter Fundraising with Moceanic

Now is the time to jump on board to get even smarter about your fundraising

SESSION OPTION 1:

New York: 3:30pm Thursday, Aug 23 Los Angeles: 12:30pm Thursday, Aug 23 London: 8:30pm Thursday, Aug 23 Auckland: 7:30am Friday, Aug 24 Times don’t suit? Check out Option 2

REGISTER HERE!

New York: 3:30pm Thursday, Aug 23
Los Angeles: 12:30pm Thursday, Aug 23
London: 8:30pm Thursday, Aug 23
Auckland: 7:30am Friday, Aug 24
Times don’t suit? Check out Option 2