Fundraising can be a grueling occupation. Strategizing, planning, writing, dreaming, asking. Facing rejection day after day. Having people raise the goal year after year.
As much as I love it, fundraising can wear you down.
That’s why Fundraising Secret #24 is: Take time for yourself.
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey calls it “sharpening [...]

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On a whim, I decided to go through the process of buying my own Ask Without Fear! fundraising ebook from a new listing I’d posted on Craigslist.
Oy. What an experience.

First, I found out I couldn’t buy my own book from the seller’s PayPal or GoogleCheckout account. The system didn’t like that.

Then when I did [...]

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As much a proponent as I am of face-to-face asking, much of my work involves writing letters for our direct mail program. Being a small office (one person), we don’t have professional copywriters built into our budget. So I do the writing myself.
Since my Fundraising Secret #21 on “is this about me or about [...]

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I promised to provide very practical advice. Here’s a quick tip that will improve virtually all your written communications: fold your letters so the donor names shows up when they open the envelope.
This simple technique is powerful.
Studies and experience show that if people open an envelope, they’re looking for their name. So let’s make [...]

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I just got an email from a person I didn’t know telling me about a firm I didn’t ask about.
It felt like spam.
Here’s my response:

Hi [marketer's name],
I’m not sure how we connected. This feels a bit unsolicited to me.
For what it’s worth:

I love that you personalized this with my name, thanks

but it took 121 words [...]

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I’m reading Katya Andresen’s Robin Hood Marketing: Stealing Corporate Savvy to Sell Just Causes.
It’s pretty amazing…and I’m only 25 pages into the book.
I’m simply floored by her first “Robin Hood Principle”: Focus on Getting People to Do Something Specific.
In her book, she points out that many of us think we need to make donors [...]

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Most of my nonprofit executive coaching clients are surprised that so much of my “Ask Without Fear!” fundraising training is based on listening. I guess most of us fall into the trap of thinking that all we need to do is memorize a great schpeal, give it, and wait for the money to roll in.
It [...]

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One of my biggest frustrations is getting a passionate email appeal, clearly stating a need, but not telling me what to do to fix it. Do you want me to give money? Send a letter to the editor?
But it’s worse to get an email asking for a donation without a link to a donation [...]

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Jeff Brooks’ recent post at DonorPowerBlog is such a great reminder: when you’re writing fundraising letters, you need to write like a human being.
He offers a great real-life example of typical copy from a fundraising letter he received.

Winter disasters and other emergencies are on the way. And your gift to [name of charity deleted] [...]

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Usually when we do think about estate giving, or so-called “planned giving,” we tend to think of really rich people.
But the AFP reports shares that a new study by Campbell & Company blows this preconception away. According to the AFP:
Most surprising for fundraisers was that income did not affect the likelihood that donors would make [...]

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