A Two-Fer: 1. Direct Mail Donor Retention & 2. Making Your Grant Proposals Visually Appealing

By Two Blog Contributors on August 20, 2014

1. Four Major Donor-Retention Sins by Jonathan Howard You know that the key to net gains and year-to-year growth of your direct mail fundraising lies with your donor retention rate. Helping first time donors become loyal friends can generate as much as an 80 percent return on investment. That’s a pretty great business model. But […]

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Checklists – A Valuable Tool for the Nonprofit – Part I

By Carter McNamara on August 13, 2014

Are you feeling overwhelmed? I think for many of us, that answer is, “Yes” – at least part of the time … or in some aspect of our lives. You’ve probably heard it said that the amount of information a person living in the Middle Ages would have been exposed to in his or her […]

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What’s Coming – The Next Ten Weeks of the Fundraising Blog

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on August 6, 2014

Please Note: We are in the process of switching from posting half of each of two different articles each week to posting only one piece each week. So, over the next ten weeks, some will be in the old format (two halves) and some will be in the new format. August 13: Checklists – A […]

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1. A Different Kind of Scheduling … and Grants & 2. Transitioning: For-Profit Sales to Non-Profit Fundraising

By Two Blog Contributors on July 30, 2014

1. A Different Kind of Scheduling May Help Improve Your Grant Proposals by Jayme Sokolow As grant proposal professionals, we are very focused on schedules. In fact, it is one of the first things we do when making a decision to bid. There is, however, another kind of scheduling that we often slight when developing […]

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1. Direct Mail in a Capital Campaign? & 2. Intro to Millennials in Fundraising, Part II

By Two Blog Contributors on July 23, 2014

1. Is There A Role for Direct Mail in a Capital Campaign? by Hank Lewis First, a quick look at Direct Mail. But, since The Fundraising Blog currently has a Direct Mail Expert addressing that topic, I’ll be very general in my observations. Direct Mail is the tried and tested tool for Donor Acquisition – […]

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1. Introducing Millennials In Fundraising & 2. Donor Retention: Where the Money Is

By Two Blog Contributors on July 16, 2014

[Also introducing a new member of The Fundraising Blog family, K. Michael Johnson, who will be writing on the subject of Millennials in Fundraising — Those who are already part of the development world, and those who might become part of that arena.] 1. Millennials in Fundraising: An Introduction – Part I by K. Michael […]

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1. Direct Mail and Donor Retention & 2. The U.S. Style of Fundraising

By Two Blog Contributors on July 9, 2014

1. Understanding Donor Retention by Jonathan Howard In a prior post, we looked at a mailing designed to bring in new, first-time donors, a process called donor acquisition. Now lets’ talk about the other side of an effective direct mail program: keeping the donors you already have, called donor retention. I compare the interplay of […]

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1. Grant Proposals Tell Stories & 2. Donor-Centered Planned Giving

By Two Blog Contributors on July 2, 2014

1. April 27th was National Tell a Story Day by Jayme Sokolow What, you may ask, is the connection between National Tell a Story Day and grant proposals? A great deal, at least from my perspective. Stories are universal because we use stories to create meaning. When you cite a statistic or make an argument, […]

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1. Donor-Centered Planned Giving & 2. Emotion in Grant Proposals

By Two Blog Contributors on June 25, 2014

1. Donor-Centered Planned Giving – Part I by John Elbare Planned gifts almost always result from strong donor relationships, yet many non-profits fail at this. When a donor feels a part of your charitable mission, planned giving become almost inevitable. But when donors feel neglected or ignored, planned giving is very difficult. Do you work […]

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1. Reason and Emotion in Grant Preparation & 2. Exporting The U.S. Style of Fundraising

By Two Blog Contributors on June 18, 2014

1. Using Both Reason and Emotion in Grant Proposals – Part I: Reason by Lynn deLearie Successful grant proposals are often carefully crafted using both reason and emotion. This week I’ll address…The Use Of Reason. Grants are NOT no-strings-attached gifts. Grants are contracts between grantors, who provide the funds, and grantees, who perform the tasks […]

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