Juice Up Your Appeals with Variable Imagery

UVM postcard mailing variable imagery
This postcard mailing for UVM makes use of variable imagery in the heading, with postcards segmented for recipients from different graduation years.

Variable imagery is one of the many benefits available with today’s digital print technology. It’s an effective and surprisingly easy way to add a personal touch to your fundraising materials, increasing engagement and gifts made to your organization.

Continue reading “Juice Up Your Appeals with Variable Imagery”

Write Your Best Appeal Yet with These Tips

Consider your most recent fundraising appeal. How did it go? Did it hit the right note? Or did it not quite achieve what you hoped it would?

When it comes to appeal letters, small changes can make a big difference. Here are some helpful tips to consider before you sit down to write your next appeal.

Continue reading “Write Your Best Appeal Yet with These Tips”

5 Step Plan to Cultivate More Major Donors

Major gifts can provide major opportunities for nonprofit organizations. But the prospect of asking someone to make a substantial gift to your organization may seem daunting. However, inspiring an individual to become a major donor may not be as overwhelming as you think.

At the core of a major gift is a relationship with your donor built on trust and stewardship. An individual isn’t likely to give $10,000 out of the blue, and you wouldn’t ask someone for a gift of that size whom you’d never met. But when you invest the time to build and cultivate the relationship, amazing things can happen.

Major donors have significant benefits for your nonprofit beyond the financial gift. But how do you find a major donor? And how to you get to that big ask?

Continue reading “5 Step Plan to Cultivate More Major Donors”

Boost Your Fundraising with Celebrity Status Donors

illustration of small man talking through large megaphone
Background vector created by Dooder – Freepik.com

$44 million. That’s how much was raised during a telethon last September hosted to support victims of Hurricane Harvey. Oprah and Beyoncé joined a cast of celebrities encouraging people to give and fielding calls from donors.

And remember those sad ASPCA commercials starring Sarah McLachlan? The ASPCA raised $30 million in just the first two years of that campaign.

These numbers are admittedly larger than many nonprofits can expect to see from any one campaign. But they show the effectiveness of influencer marketing. It’s an increasingly popular marketing trend, where companies partner with well-known celebrities, politicians, and business people to promote their products. And, it’s an effective sales tool—in 2016, revenue generated from influencer marketing on Instagram alone topped $570 million.

Continue reading “Boost Your Fundraising with Celebrity Status Donors”

Essential Tips for New Year Fundraising

Take a moment to breathe–you’ve made it through another busy holiday season. If you’re like many nonprofits, year-end fundraising is both a critical and a crazy time for your organization.

A lot of effort goes into crafting and executing year-end campaigns. Though you may be finished promoting your 2017 holiday campaign, your work is far from over. Now that you’ve got some breathing room, it’s time to consider how your organization will handle the fundraising challenges of a new year. Continue reading “Essential Tips for New Year Fundraising”

10 Tips to Increase Donor Loyalty

cartoon of donors placing money in a donation box
Money vector created by Freepik

Think how hard it would be if you had to find a new pool of donors every year just to keep your nonprofit going. Not only would it be exhausting—it might even be impossible.

Which is why it’s important that there are donors who choose to give on a regular basis. Statistics show that repeat donors give more to nonprofits, not just over time, but also per gift. Which makes sense—once a donor has become invested in a nonprofit, they are often willing to give more to increase the organization’s impact. Continue reading “10 Tips to Increase Donor Loyalty”

Get an Early Start on Your Year-End Fundraising

Year_End_Gift_Paw_Print_And_MailHoliday tunes, snowfall, and ringing in a new year—that all seems far away, doesn’t it? But whether we like it or not, the end of the year will be here before we know it.

The holiday season is busy for all kinds of reasons. If you’re involved with year-end fundraising for a nonprofit organization, you know how hectic the last few weeks of the year can be. Nearly 1/3 of annual giving occurs in the month of December, with 12% of all giving occurring on the last three days of the year. Continue reading “Get an Early Start on Your Year-End Fundraising”

Letter vs. Card Appeal – Which is Best for Fundraising?

smiling woman opening mailAs much as we wish warm weather would stick around, summer is winding down, vacations have been taken, and a new school year is about to begin. If you’re involved in fundraising for a nonprofit, you’re probably looking ahead to the next few months as you prepare fundraising campaigns to meet end of the year deadlines. Nearly 1/3 of annual giving happens in the holiday month of December. A year-end appeal is critical for achieving fundraising goals. It’s never too early to plan your holiday fundraising strategy. One of the most basic questions to ask is, what format should I be using?

Fundraising at its core is like any other marketing effort, in that it relies upon making a connection with your donors. Since 70% of Americans find direct mail communication more personal than digital forms of communication, a personalized mailer is an obvious choice for achieving maximum donor impact. Millennials like direct mail too, with over 90% considering it a reliable source of information. You can be sure a direct mail appeal will allow you to reach a wide audience.

Printing has evolved considerably over the last few years, giving you many format and personalization options. Two of the most popular forms of direct mail fundraisers are appeal letters and greeting cards. Which one should you use for your campaign? Continue reading “Letter vs. Card Appeal – Which is Best for Fundraising?”

5 Essential Parts of a Capital Campaign Brochure

Capital Campaigns: The Basics

capital campaign growth graph
Created by Creativeart – Freepik.com

Working for a nonprofit, you want to do as much good as possible. One of the most effective ways for nonprofits to achieve larger development goals is with a capital campaign. A capital campaign is a period of heavy fundraising efforts. Nonprofit organizations work to raise a significant amount of money within a specified period of time. Often this kind of campaign is used in order to raise funds to acquire, build, or expand a facility, or to set up an endowment. A large-scale campaign like this can be the only way for an organization to achieve goals that are vital to its efforts.

Targeting your efforts is essential to ensure you meet your goals within the time period specified. Unlike more general fundraising efforts, capital campaigns are specific. They require defined target benchmarks as you move through the campaign timeline. Capital campaigns give your supporters a specific, concrete goal that their dollars will go directly towards funding.

Continue reading “5 Essential Parts of a Capital Campaign Brochure”