Other than a good story, have you ever wondered what makes one fundraising campaign more successful than another? The “magic bullet” of olden times, which you can quickly apply today – even if you think Read more…
With so much concern about how the charity sector treats donors and those it hopes will become supporters, suddenly the donor is right there in the spotlight. What do donors want? How can we meet Read more…
For almost as long as I’ve been a fundraiser, I’ve struggled with the disconnect between the notion that more donors equals more funds raised and the reality – that I’ve seen too often – that the Read more…
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Sometimes it seems like good writing has become one of the lost arts of the fundraising practice. Email and social media may be to blame, or too many demands on our time, or our Read more…
Christmas is the time when fundraisers get excited about the sound of a man or woman trudging through the snow struggling under the weight of a sack full of gifts. Only for us, it’s the Read more…
I’m an unabashed direct marketer. Turned fundraiser. Or if we’re being pedantic, direct response fundraiser.
I live and die by results. It’s why (I think) our clients like working with us. No fluff, no window dressing. Just out and out obsession with producing great results.
Facetiously, it’s in part why I never really “got” events. When I started fundraising and met event fundraisers I felt uneasy when I was told that their event didn’t raise much cash but generated a “heap of awareness”, and “was great for stewarding some major donor prospects”. (more…)
The one thing we didn’t guard well was the treasured book itself. There’s a lot that I recall with affection from my first fundraising job. But one thing I remember particularly fondly – the good Read more…
I think that if I was writing fiction instead of remembering something that happened, I would never have given her that dress. – Alice Munro, “Voices” We’re in the high holy days of Ontariocottaging right Read more…
I was on a conference call with someone the other day and they mentioned, “Surfing the web”, and then, immediately, almost embarrassed, added, “who says that anymore?!” It’s true, no one says that anymore. We’re Read more…
And is this the right question? Of course we should question everything and assume nothing. But the questions fundraisers ask at times miss the point, sometimes by several miles. Like the perennial, ‘how long Read more…
There have been some wonderful, impassioned, thought provoking posts (and rants!) on this blog recently, all about issues very dear to my heart that often have me ranting too. There seems to be a lot Read more…
