There is not a more contentious issue in fundraising out there than Direct Mail. There are camps that say you aren’t mailing enough, while there are others that say you mail too often. There are camps that say the letter should be longer (i.e. 4 pages) and there are camps that say it should...
Continue reading...June 2018
What if our charity disappeared tonight?
Presumably, every charity out there has a raison d’être — a reason for being. (And the reason for being is never about raising money — that is merely a means to a greater end). Tom Ahern uses an exercise that examines the raison d’être with stakeholders (staff, volunteers, donors, etc.). He poses the question: Let’s pretend. Let’s...
Continue reading...Empowering kids through fundraising
A few weekends ago, it was a flurry of activity in our household — I chose to participate in the Manulife Ride for Heart cycle event in Toronto with my 15-year old, while my wife participated in the Gutsy Walk in Ottawa with our 10-year old that suffers from Ulcerative Colitis. I was beaming...
Continue reading...Go find some great board members
In Joan Garry’s Guide to Nonprofit Leadership, she spends a lot of time talking about getting the instructions correctly before going out on the task of recruitment of board members. “Can you imagine the general manager of the New York Yankees sending out scouts without a plan? Imagine this directive: Go find some great ballplayers. What would...
Continue reading...Becoming one of many
One of the recurring themes that I have written about is the notion of mining your database and focussing less on donor acquisition. I said less, not “don’t acquire donors” for you literal folks. There is so much untapped potential “in them there hills” that it is mind-boggling — trust me! Direct Mail is...
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