The Overlooked Secret to Fundraising Copywriting – Verbs Part 1: 4 Fundraising Copywriting Tips on How to Use Verbs to Lasso Your Reader’s Attention “The little boy went far from home to look for food.” “The little boy traveled far from home to search for food.” Great fundraising copywriting shouldn’t be complicated. In fact, if […]
Fundraising & Copywriting Blog
How to Attract, Convert, Cultivate, and Retain More Recurring Donors
How to Attract, Convert, Cultivate, and Retain More Recurring Donors 7 Sobering Recurring Donor Statistics, and the Action Steps You Need to Take In Response The Nonprofit Recurring Giving Benchmark Study from NextAfter contains some eye-opening data about how nonprofits could be doing a lot more to attract, convert, cultivate, and retain more recurring donors. Here’s […]
9 Fundraising Games to Liven Up Your Next Auction Event
9 Fundraising Games to Liven Up Your Next Auction Event How to Keep Your Guests Excited with New Games and Fun Activities Auction and fundraising games bring fun and excitement to events that sometimes, even with the best of planning and the sincerest of missions, can still sometimes feel like a slog. When recommending auction […]
Do Donor Trips Actually Work?
Do Donor Trips Actually Work? For organizations with international projects, Donor Trips can be an effective way of raising money, but only if done right. When I started Philanthropy without Borders, I knew there were many organizations taking their donors to the field to experience the mission first hand, and that often the initiative was […]
ProActive Content Is Speaking at the 2019 AFP NW Forum on Strategic Fundraising
ProActive Content Is Speaking at the 2019 AFP NW Forum on Strategic Fundraising Come Visit My Booth and Supercharge Your Fundraising Skills I’m pleased to announce that Dan Magill from ProActive Content has been chosen as a speaker at the upcoming Association of Fundraising Professionals Northwest’s annual Forum on Strategic Fundraising. The 2-day event happens […]
How to Write ‘Can’t Look Away’ Headlines for Nonprofits
How to Write ‘Can’t Look Away’ Headlines for Nonprofits 6-Step Guide Reveals How to Engage and Inspire Your Readers to Action In this media-saturated age, getting anyone to read your nonprofit’s content and fundraising appeals presents an unending challenge. Each new piece of content you send out requires a fresh motivation to be read by […]
Is Your Nonprofit Ready for Google Ad Grants?
Is Your Nonprofit Ready for Google Ad Grants? 5-Point Ad Grants Checklist Reveals If Your Organization Is Ready to Grow Its Email List Using Google’s Free Ad Platform What’s the value in using Google Ad Grants for nonprofits? If you’ve done any research at all, you probably already know a few things: It’s a pain […]
Real Definition of Spam: Why Nonprofits and Businesses Need to Stop Worrying about ‘Spamming’ Their Email List
Real Definition of Spam: Why Nonprofits and Businesses Need to Stop Worrying about ‘Spamming’ Their Email Lists Don’t be Afraid of Your Supporters and Customers A common fear among both businesses and nonprofits is sending too many emails, or sending emails that are “too long.” This article has one simple purpose: To set the record […]
Make Them Hear You: Why Fundraising is Harder Than You Think
Why Fundraising is Harder Than You Think Lazy Marketing Projections and ‘Out-of-Thin-Air’ Goals Often Have No Relationship to Reality It’s a mistake made across all sectors of business in addition to nonprofits. We believe it’s easier to get people to do what we want than it really is. Read that again to make sure you […]
4 Reasons Why So Many Nonprofits Fail to Produce Consistent New Content
4 Reasons Why So Many Nonprofits Fail to Produce Consistent New Content Is Your Nonprofit’s Content Strategy Failing? This Could Be Why Consistently publishing new content has a direct impact on the awareness of your cause and your growth in fulfilling your mission. Conceptually, this isn’t hard to understand. The more people who know about […]
5 Foundations for Building a Nonprofit That Changes the World
5 Foundations for Building a Nonprofit That Changes the World Why Nonprofits Fail, Part 2: Your Charity is a Business, not a Passion Project Read Part 1 here Your nonprofit is a business. If you started your nonprofit, then you are an entrepreneur. This is true whether you want to admit it or not. It’s […]
Case Study: Why Nonprofits Fail
Case Study: Why Nonprofits Fail – Part 1 3 Sobering Lessons from a Nonprofit that Disappeared Read Part 2 – Get Five Foundations for a Fail-Proof Nonprofit If you’ve read any number of my blogs, you may have picked up that one injustice I care a lot about is human trafficking and all its twisted […]
Guide to Nonprofit Christmas Card Fundraising
Guide to Nonprofit Christmas Card Fundraising Plus: 4 Reasons Why Holiday Cards Are Effective Should your nonprofit send Christmas cards? Yes! You’ll see why in a moment, but first here’s a quick 8-step guide to writing great nonprofit Christmas cards. 8 Steps to Writing and Sending Nonprofit Christmas Cards 1. Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays? […]
Why You Can’t Find Social Media Fundraising Expertise
Why You Can’t Find Social Media Fundraising Expertise The ‘Great Deception’ and Millennial Myth Debunked: They Aren’t Good At Social Media Either (This is a copyrighted excerpt from The Ultimate Fundraising Case Study. Purchase here or on Amazon. You do NOT have permission to copy this post, but you DO have permission to quote from […]
Etched-In-Stone: The 5 Bedrock Email Fundraising Best Practices
Etched-In-Stone: The 5 Bedrock Email Fundraising Best Practices Let No Email You Send Lack One of These (Even When Emailing Your Grandmother) Most emails are too short. Most emails also give the impression they were thrown together at the last minute. The thing is, doing email fundraising and marketing the right way doesn’t take that […]
The Mysterious Missing Donation Money from the Masses
The Mysterious Missing Donation Money from the Masses One-time & Recurring Donor Statistics Reveal Fountain of Untapped Small Donor Generosity Is your nonprofit neglecting smaller donors in pursuit of the big fish? Don’t get me wrong – a lot of attention is paid to getting major donors, as it should be. But as the statistics […]
Donation Page Giving Options – Testing Data Uncovers Huge Revenue Loss from One Simple Change
Donation Page Giving Options – Testing Data Uncovers Huge Revenue Loss from One Simple Change On your donation page, how should you present your giving options? Your three main giving options are: Only an open-ended field with no suggested giving amounts One or more suggested amounts Both suggested amounts and an open field for other […]
The Worst Mistake Nonprofits Make on Their Thank You Pages
The Worst Mistake Nonprofits Make on Their Thank You Pages 5 Thank You Page Essentials to Unite Donors with Your Charity Thank you. There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Thanking people who do things they didn’t have to do that benefit you and your cause is really important. Possibly the single most important thing […]
Ripped from Hollywood: The Anatomy of Fundraising Storytelling – How to Insert Donors into Your Narrative
Ripped from Hollywood: The Anatomy of Fundraising Storytelling – How to Insert Donors into Your Narrative 6 Components Every Well-Told Fundraising Story Must Have The power of story in fundraising is well-known. What’s less well-known is how to tell a story well, such that it motivates donors to want to take action. Besides fundraising copywriting, […]
Wow Your Guests with 8 Next-Level Silent Auction Strategies
Wow Your Guests with 8 Next-Level Silent Auction Strategies Do More Than Just Sell Items. Create a Truly Memorable Guest Experience What’s the top goal of your charity’s silent auction? You probably thought of money. But is that really the #1 goal? Let’s get real – the money you make from your silent auction […]
