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Show some donor appreciation!
Before I give you the secret and how it applies to your fundraising efforts, you should know that lots of people try to tell me how to market MarketSmart.
They tell me I need to drive tons of traffic to my website. They call me up and tell me I should speak at or sponsor this or that event. They recommend I buy a booth at an expo so I can jump out at people as they walk by. They try to sell me spam lists (also known as email lists). They tell me I need more Twitter followers. And the list goes on.
Guess what? They’re all wrong because the most effective marketing tactic we employ is this:
When people refer us to others, mention us online, promote us at events or contribute to our success in other ways, we send them a thank you note and a gift.
Not every single time. But we try!
For one of our friends, we send cookies because we know she just loves them. For another it’s brownies.
Two years ago I sent a gift and a note to Roger Craver at The Agitator simply because I love his blog and wanted to show my appreciation.
Show some appreciation today!
LIKE THIS BLOG POST? SHARE IT WITH YOUR PEERS OR LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!
Get the book!
Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
Finding that the old orthodoxies and conventions espoused by so-called experts in online echo-chambers and at conferences don’t work anymore?
Want to help more people make impact by facilitating their acts of philanthropy but feel like too many obstacles keep getting in your way?
Then this book is for you.
Engagement Fundraising was developed from the perspective of a donor who discovered firsthand that the impersonal, spray-and-pray approaches of his beloved charity were not only offensive but also wasteful and ineffective. So he took action. And now, you can too.
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Two thumbs up!
I’ve received a note and yummy gift box in the mail from MarketSmart for referrals, too. Much appreciated. You all do good work.
Proof positive! Thanks for being awesome David.
So awesome, and so wonderfully simple, people forget how effective it can be to simply follow up with people and say thank you, make genuine connections. It is so much more personal and people really appreciate that you’ve taken the time to write to them and that you’re thinking of them, it makes a must more lasting impression than a tweet or a booth at an expo. Wonderful advice!