Blogs
Ten Commandments of Copy & Design Part II
You Still Can’t Risk NOT Reading This! (Continuing on with a quick wrap up of DMAW’s Ten Commandments Lunch & Learn featuring Tom Gaffny and Steve Fleshman.) Among the Commandments according to Tom and Steve is NEVER break a multi-page letter with the end of a sentence. Entice the reader to turn the page and…
Ten Commandments of Copy & Design Part I
You Can’t Risk NOT Reading This! Did you decide to read on? Good. You’re already on your way to improved fundraising results by just knowing these Ten Commandments. (A quick wrap up of DMAW’s Ten Commandments Lunch & Learn featuring Tom Gaffny and Steve Fleshman.) Commandment Number 1 — It’s Not All About YOU! Sorry.…
My direct mail fantasy, and other myths
I’ve found the perfect direct mail donor. Her name is Gladys, and she gives to everything I send her, 100% of the time. But I’m not sharing her with you guys. She’s mine. When Gladys gets a mailing from me, she does exactly what she’s supposed to do. When she sees my piece of…
11 Commandments of Fundraising Design
I look in the mirror, and I start to think I LOOK as old as Moses, but that’s where the comparison seems to end. Though I do have close to 30 years in the industry, so I guess I have a few things I can share in the upcoming DMAW Lunch & Learn…
Google Analytics and Ecommerce: Learning the Value of your Website in Dollars and Sense
When I sat down to attend the DMAW’s Lunch & Learn, led by the Harrington Agency’s Chief Digital Strategist Adam Ruff, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew the seminar (which I was happy to discover was a working session) would cover getting the most out of Google Analytics, but to what degree? I…
The Donor Who Keeps on Giving—How Often to Appeal to Your Monthly Givers
At the recent Bridge Conference, I ran into a colleague who asked me the question that many nonprofits grapple with: How often should you ask your existing sustainers for more money? We know that monthly donors are a good source of revenue, but if you aren’t asking for extra gifts during the year, your ‘single’…
Lights, Camera, Action: Turning Views into Donations
Views and likes are everything nice, but do they really help drive donations and web traffic? According to See3 Communications CEO Michael Hoffman, those likes and views don’t mean much if they don’t turn into action—and that means you have to be reaching the right people. During the DMAW co-hosted webinar “How to Create an…
Google Analytics & Ecommerce – The Peanut Butter & Jelly of Website Donor Strategies
Do you have the tools to make your digital donor strategies a success but just need some additional expert advice? On September 28th from 12 Noon – 2 PM at SEIU, Washington, DC, we are going to rock your CRM world – with actionable information gained from data analytics. Chief Digital Strategist at the…
MAXI Madness Strikes Again at National Harbor
It was a star-studded afternoon as Direct Marketing’s top fundraising experts and their guests gathered at the elegant Gaylord National Hotel at Washington D.C.’s National Harbor for the 38th Annual Marketing Awards for eXcellence and Innovation – the MAXIs! The MAXIs have become one of the industry’s most coveted prizes over the years because of…
Three Steps to a Better Performing Website
 Why do your competitors’ websites continuously outrank and seemingly outperform your own? It’s a question many organizations may find themselves asking. But thanks to the relative open nature of the Internet, we can grab glimpses of their digital strategies—and see what’s working. In this post, we will briefly examine steps your digital team can…