Even though I write and edit appeal letters every year — often for multiple organizations — I still think it is important to make sure I know the Latest and Greatest appeal letter trends. Yes, I did mean trends. There was a point… [Read more…]
A few years ago I have become aware of a theory called rejection therapy. The idea is that to overcome the fear of rejection you ask for seemingly preposterous things and eventually, you will be immune to the rejection and focused on how… [Read more…]
By David A. Mersky Recently, I reached out to a former client, now friend, as she was about to experience an important moment in her life — her eldest child was graduating from middle school that evening. I’ve known her and her family for years… [Read more…]
Way, way back in 2019, we could predict fundraising trends for individual nonprofits. Using the standard KPIs like previous giving history, the number of donors, and retention rates for various donors, helped form a reliable path to your goal. There was always testing… [Read more…]
Today’s donors are sophisticated. Gone are the days when they just donate to… … a cute picture of a child or dog was enough to raise millions … because a donor gave an amount last year, they would automatically give at least the… [Read more…]
Time after time, I hear clients say they asked a prospect for a major gift donation. When I ask for details, I hear they: Think you have asked for a major gift donation in one of these ways? Think again. The only way to actually ask… [Read more…]
By Abigail Harmon ChatGPT writes commercials for Ryan Reynolds, papers for college students, essays written by AI detectors for professors, and can even pass MBA and med school tests. Image AI is under scrutiny for being able to gather so many images that it infringes upon copyright laws. Meta and Google know… [Read more…]
By David A. Mersky The year is nearly over. At this point, you have done absolutely everything you can for your direct response and mid-range donors. So, what do most organizations do? They send everybody home between Christmas and New Year’s. Yes, you may… [Read more…]
The best stories don’t teach people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already believes and makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure when reminded how right they were in the first place. – Seth Godin… [Read more…]
In every nonprofit that we council for fundraising and development, we provide tips, techniques, and training on how to ask for money. Whether we are talking to staff, board or committee members, we know there is a lot of fear around the ask. … [Read more…]