In an issue of her Loyalty Letter, Lisa Sargent recently noted: “I just wrapped up supporter survey season in my little copywriting studio. And every year, the most powerful answers come from one simple question: “WHY DO YOU GIVE?” The responses stop me in my tracks every time. I smile. I cry. I sigh.… The post Why People Give to YOU appeared first on Clairification.| Clairification
Are you planning to do, more or less, the same thing you did last year for your year-end annual fundraising push? I mean things like: Recycling the same appeal letter Mailing to the same list Failing to segment your list Failing to clean up addresses and de-dupe your list Using the same donation landing page… The post From ‘Resting on Laurels’ to Leading with Vision: A Nonprofit Guide to Moving On appeared first on Clairification.| Clairification
Does proving your point persuade your nonprofit donor? It turns out not so much. At least, not unless your donor is already pretty much won over. Proof (“just the facts, m’am”), absent persuasion (“once upon a time”), won’t get you far. In “How to Project Manage Your Nonprofit Story,” I delved into the concept of… The post Facts Tell, Stories Sell: The Fundraising Mistake You’re Probably Making appeared first on Clairification.| Clairification
Let’s say you’ve done everything thus far suggested in this fundraising appeal checklist. ✅ You’ve done the groundwork.✅ You’ve focused your message.✅ You’ve made it about the donor—not your organization. Now it’s time to bring it home. Because no matter how clear or well-structured your appeal is, it won’t inspire action unless it moves the…| Clairification
Before you write a single word of your annual fundraising appeal, pause. Take a deep breath. And think about the person who will open your letter or email. They’re not just a “donor.” They’re a person with hopes, fears, dreams and values. Someone who cares. Someone who wants to make a difference. Someone who, in… The post Fundraising Appeal Checklist: 8 Essentials to Review Before You Write appeared first on Clairification.| Clairification
The job of the smart fundraiser is inspiring passionate philanthropy to make people’s lives better. I know you’re smart, because you’re reading this article! But none of us is born with a fundraising gene. And no one ever really teaches us how to write a smart fundraising appeal. We from our predecessors. Or maybe read…| Clairification
Full confession: I’ve used the franken “best practice” appeal structure for years. And honestly? It works — especially if you borrow generously from the best of the best appeal writers. I’ve even taught these practices at conferences, on webinars, and through consulting engagements. You probably know the formula: Lead with the beginnings of a story…| Clairification
In 1984 Robert Cialdini wrote a groundbreaking bo, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, outlining principles of influence that affect human behaviors. Today these principles have been well documented. Trail-blazing research added by behavioral scientists like Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky supports and expands on Cialdini’s principles. No matter how much technology advances, the triggers behind human behavior and…| Clairification
Everyone’s been saying this, just about daily, for some time. “These aren’t ordinary times.” If the anthem for the Boomer generation was Bob Dylan’s “The TImes They Are A’Changin’,” what’s the anthem for today? History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. We’re living in the face of a firehose of breaking news, and much of…| Clairification
Ready for the home stretch of annual giving? Use these tips to effectively execute your year-end giving plans and smash your yearly fundraising goals.| re: charity
People are wired for stories. We use them to understand our world. But do the same stories work in any time? For any person? No. You need to understand your SMIT story – ‘Single Most Important Thing’ – at this moment in time. And that SMIT will change, depending on the environment in which you’re operating.…| Clairification
The world reacted with shock and outrage. There was a pervasive feeling of “how could this happen here?” People screamed… cried… prayed. This was five years ago. Last spring. When a fire wreaked devastating damage to something that, for many, represented the soul of a nation. And . Notre Dame…| Clairification
Awareness alone is passive. Do you wish you had a dime for every time a nonprofit board or staff member told you “We’re the best kept secret in town; if people knew what we do, they’d give to support us.” Nonprofits tell me this all the time! If I had all those dimes, I…| Clairification
You must invite your donor into the story. Take yourself out of the equation. Donors don’t care about you, but about what they can do through you. Stop talking about your good work. Talk, instead, about the good work your donor wants to do. How? 5-Step Strategy to Illuminate the Donor’s Role in Repairing the…| Clairification
What gets donors going? The heart, not the head. “People do not give to the most urgent needs, but rather they support causes that mean something to them.” This is the finding from a report done by the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy at the University of Kent: “How Donor Choose Charities.” They…| Clairification