Why sincere is better than clever

In this brilliant blog, Mary Cahalane shares mistakes she made early on in her career and what she learnt from them. Mary closes her blog with this brilliant quote, which I absolutely love…: “Writing to your donors isn’t about you or your organization. Writing to your donors is about your donors. “Give them a problem […]

The Twelve Appeals of the Year

This blog by Mark Phillips from Bullfrog Fundraising Limited was written just before Christmas but holds up just as well as we return to work in 2020 – an excellent time for a little retrospection. What are we proud of? What’s great? What (or who) has been a right pain? And how’s the fundraising profession […]

Disrupting the Case for Support

A Case for Support is an oft-used tool in fundraising to set out your stall; its purpose to communicate the ‘Why’ of your campaign. It’s a working document designed as a group/workshop exercise to provoke discussion, tease out the campaign’s identity and find its most compelling elements. It constantly evolves and very, very rarely ever […]

Why fundraisers need to master the art of storytelling

Ever since humans first gathered together under a tree, we’ve told stories to one another. Stories that move us, scare us, illuminate our minds and inspire us to see the world anew. So why, when it comes to moving and inspiring people to give to a charitable cause, do so many in our industry resist […]

13 Ways to Write Better Fundraising Asks

When you’re only six weeks into your new fundraising job and your boss suddenly assigns you the task of writing your organization’s year-end fundraising appeal, due tomorrow, what the heck are you going do? Instead of copying and pasting last year’s letter, how about you carve out some time to create your very own masterpiece? […]

Guide to Annual Giving Donor Segmentation

For most advancement shops, annual giving is the black hole of fundraising: a generic ask to a mass audience. But what if you could deliver a meaningful, personalized experience for all of your donors—without increasing the resources needed or time and energy spent? In this whitepaper, you’ll learn how to segment your constituents to personalize […]

How Donors Choose: One choice that’ll increase revenue

Many nonprofits already know the value of giving concrete examples for what donations of different amounts are worth. You know, things like…$25 feeds a shelter dog for three weeks…$60 pays for a counselTina Cincottiing session at the legal aid clinic…$100 provides five hours of tutoring help… Whether people donate and how much is greatly influenced […]

How to respond when they challenge your fundraising appeal

Does your appeal letter really need to be two pages long? What about that serif font? Sentence fragments? Mary Cahalane answers common questions about writing successful appeal letters. https://mcahalane.com/how-to-respond-when-they-challenge-your-fundraising-appeal/

Why your business needs an inbound marketing Growth Plan

It’s time to stop wasting money trying to interrupt your target prospects and instead reap the benefits of attracting your prospects to you. And that’s what inbound marketing services are all about – creating and sharing content that appeals to your audience so they build trust in your brand. It works on the principle of […]

Where brand and fundraising meet. The case for a case for support.

Fundraising is focussed on the bottom line. Hard, tangible cash. Facts and figures. Brand is about perception. The heart and mind of the audience. Intangible feelings. OK, so I’m being purposefully black and white. But everyone of my friends in the sector feels that brand and fundraising teams need to work better together. And with […]