Tagged as ‘fundraising strategy’
Most nonprofits acquire new donors at an up-front loss. In direct marketing terms, this loss is measured as “cost per donor.” It’s an important value that represents an organization’s investment in new donors – what each new donor “costs.” Once acquired, the expectation is that the organization’s new donors will yield some return that exceeds […]
Like “make it bigger” in graphic design, good direct response fundraisers are well served by a refrain of our own: “Make it plainer.” It’s counterintuitive like so much of direct response fundraising, but it couldn’t be truer. In head-to-head tests, the simplest, least “fancy” email/direct mail/web campaigns almost always win. Like this envelope, for example […]
The start of a new year is a great time to weigh up your membership program’s strengths and challenges and set a course for new and improved direct response strategies. But just like resolutions that people make, it’s all too easy for nonprofits to set unrealistic goals and, worse, neglect to build the necessary foundation […]
Nonprofits have been soldiering through shaky fundraising territory for the past several years. With the addition of “fear index” and “double dip” to the mainstream economic crisis vocabulary in the past few days, we can probably expect those challenges to stay around for a while and maybe even intensify. So what do we do? First, […]
“What if we just got 100,000 people to each give us a couple of bucks?” “One percent response in new donor prospecting is terrible! We should accept nothing less than 99%.” “Our donors are too old. We need to get younger donors.” “What we really need to do is focus on major donor acquisition. […]
Because it’s time to. Powerful fundraising is the intersection of strategy, passion and relevance. Of course we have communication calendars. And we most certainly have fundraising goals. But if you find yourself starting your next development/membership department meeting with “What are we gonna write about this month?” then take a step back. Instead, ask yourself […]
MKDM‘s annual Idea Book is here! Highlighting some of our most effective membership and advocacy campaigns for national and regional nonprofits, the book is part portfolio, part how-to guide, part idea-generator – and it’s yours for free. To order your free copy, email your name, organization/company and mailing address to ideabook@mkdmc.com.
Donor development is a daily exercise in balance, particularly when it comes to solicitation frequency. How often should you ask? Are you asking too often? Or not often enough? Fortunately, your donors answer these questions by how they respond to your communications and solicitations. Here are five ways to tell if you’re not soliciting your […]
