Emotion and Your Donors
/Making an emotional connection with your donor is critical to your fundraising success.
It can also be the hardest thing to do.
Read MoreThe Dating Game: Make Them Feel Special
/No matter how dedicated and supportive your donors have been, the worst thing you can do is consider them a “done deal.” Your donors have the freedom to champion any cause they’d like, but they’ve chosen to believe in you and support the work that you do. For that fact alone, you should never stop showing your appreciation.
Read MoreSeven indicators of a potential donor
/A great prospective donor...
Gave to your cause before
This is a no-brainer: what is the biggest indicator of whether or not a person will give to your cause? Giving to your cause already.
Read MoreAsk Early and Often
/Asking for help is never easy -- especially when it involves money.
And when you’re operating an organization funded by charitable donations, there’s no way to avoid the awkward discomfort of “begging” your donors for money throughout the year.
But while you’re worried about over-asking, you may not be asking enough.
Read MoreHow long is long enough?
/You’d think a simple one-page package would consistently outperform a longer letter since it’s cheaper to produce and mail. It’s also a lot easier and faster for a donor to read one page than 20.
Read MoreHow donors create movements
/I’m sure you’ve probably received a fundraising letter or solicitation at some point that said something like, “anything you can give today will help.” If you’re like most people, “anything you can give today” is likely $20, $50, or maybe even $100.
Read MoreThe Dating Game: Keeping It Spicy
/Any relationship expert will tell you that the key to a happy long-term partnership is keeping the spark that got you two together alive. The same is true for your donors.
Read MoreIs direct mail right for you?
/No. It’s not.
It’s expensive, inconvenient, and an incredibly inefficient way to fundraise for your organization.
With that said, if your group is able to use direct mail to fundraise, it should.
Now that you’re completely confused, I’ll explain what I mean.
Read MoreFinancial Restrictions and "The Overhead Myth"
/Did you know that 75% of all U.S. foundation grant making is restricted?
This is because many wealthy donors restrict their contributions from being used to cover "indirect costs," preferring that their gift is put directly toward the funding of a project.
The "indirect costs" of a non-profit organization can include anything from paying salaries to training staff to maintenancing buildings and equipment. These are the overhead costs that come with operating any organization.
Read MoreAre you asking my mom for money?
/Like many people in her generation, my mother is pretty frugal. Though she’s comfortable in retirement, for most of her life, she didn’t have a lot of money to spare.
So, I guess you could say I spent my college years testing asks. To be honest, they usually were over the phone — so maybe they were telemarketing asks — but they were asks...
Read MoreEngage has everyone talking.
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There are many advantages of using Engage for caging and program fulfillment.
Engage’s suite of services enable small organizations to focus more on program outreach to citizens. Engage manages and accounts for the processing of petitions and surveys, providing its clients digital copies with a list of signers. Because of this, I am personally able to deliver thousands of petitions signed by the American people to members of Congress.
Without Engage, the cost of program fulfillment for small organizations might otherwise be prohibitive.
— Rosalie J. Wyatt, Director, Decide America
You're creeping me out...
/Did you know that I’m in the restaurant business? I don’t own or run restaurants outright but I’ve invested in a few restaurants in the area. So when I got a birthday card from an upscale seafood restaurant I’d never visited, I figured they’d done their homework and were trying to butter me up.
Read MoreEngage has everyone talking.
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"I couldn't be happier — great job."
— Mike DeMos, Founding Member, Victory-360
Engage has everyone talking.
/"Everything is running smoothly and Engage is a big reason for that. Of the three companies we deal with, Engage is the best."
— Tom Ross, Customer Service Manager, Saturn Corporation
Engage has everyone talking.
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"CCAH is doing great — marketing and fundraising are very good right now. And Engage offers great caging, no delays, and a staff that's always responsive."
— Deepish Matani, Account Representative, Chapman, Cubine, Adams + Hussey
Those Duplicates cost you more than you think Part 2
/I was shocked when I found a 8 ½% duplicate rate on my client’s house file. I immediately called the company responsible for maintain the data. “How could you let this happen.” Their response? 5% duplicates are “industry standard.” This isn’t so bad.
Read MoreThose Duplicates cost you more than you think Part 1
/I’ll never forget the first time I got a chance to actually look at a client’s house list for the first time. I was shocked. The list was filthy. The list had a 8 ½ % duplicate rate. And one lady was on the list 14 times. You don’t think that’s possible?
Read MoreThey like you. They really like you!
/I always love having a client come in to help open their mail. Because my clients are always shocked by how many positive notes they receive. Most of our clients are convinced that their donors don’t like them. But by far the most common comments we see in the mail is “thank you” … “God Bless You” … and “keep up the good work.”
Read More