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Last year I worked with Dr. Russell James to present his findings on what words work to raise money (Check out the ground-breaking webinar titled… Read More
Mark Twain once said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” I recently saw that quote and it got me thinking that… Read More
Einstein once said: “Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.”We all know that measuring performance is essential… Read More
# 10. Too much rapport building (not enough alignment of organizational needs with donor passions and interests) # 9. Talking too much; listening too little… Read More
“Content is money!” That’s what Abila says. Here are 6 big recommendations from Abila’s donor loyalty study: 1. Spend time on content and your content strategy:… Read More
Here are 5 great lessons fundraisers can learn from Subway: 1. Ask for feedback. 2. Say please. 3. Use the word “YOU” often. It makes… Read More
Everyone says the number one reason why people give is because they were asked. I think this axiom might need a bit of a… Read More
Remember Candid Camera? In this old episode, they set out to prove how easy it is to get someone to conform. Unfortunately, today too many… Read More
Infographics Short, “self-contained” emails (with no hyperlinks) that include very brief updates Short letters or online articles (2-3 paragraphs) Highly relevant and targeted medium length… Read More
What donors value is often their time without you and not their time with you. Ouch! Yep! That’s right. I said it. And I know… Read More
I’m sure you’ve run into a bunch of “show up and throw up sales people” in your lifetime. “Show up and throw up selling” is often… Read More
Great Gift Officers have common traits. Here they are: Genuine curiosity. They ask donors questions and they truly care about the answers. They don’t sound… Read More
Here are some of the most powerful words used frequently in advertising: finally suddenly now FREE SALE NEW announcing introducing improved amazing sensational remarkable fantastic… Read More
The private sector knows all about responding to leads. They know that: The odds of calling to contact a lead decrease by over 10 times… Read More
So I’m out having lunch with one of my fellow CEO buddies. I do that a lot. It’s very lonely being a CEO so I… Read More
Here are 5 proven reasons why fundraisers won’t call their leads to ask for donations: Fear of rejection: This is the most common reason for… Read More
Here are six of the biggest reasons why you don’t get enough major gifts from people with capacity: Your capable donors, supporters, advocates, staff, and… Read More
Want more interesting research from Dr. James? Here you go: News from the Ivory Tower: Webinar Words that Work: Webinar Words that Work: eBook… Read More
This ad for Volkswagen was (and still is) one of the greatest ads of all time. It was simple and powerful. It turned a negative… Read More
Ronald J. Schiller (a veteran fundraiser with too many accolades to list here) wrote a fantastic book titled Belief and Confidence. In it, he draws… Read More
We really need to thank our lucky stars for Dr. Russell James! He painstakingly reviewed 20+ years worth of data from a federally funded,… Read More
First, a really quick story. I was flying home from a speaking engagement last week when I found myself sitting next to a very sweet,… Read More
1. Are you really doing direct mail well? I like to say, “Be donor-centric. Be personalized. Be relevant. Or be gone!” If you’re sending tons… Read More
First, a quick story: I once heard a story about a University that was getting ready for a big campaign. Not surprisingly, several fundraisers at… Read More
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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