Bring Back That Loving Feeling
Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about declining results for direct mail and flagging e-mail open rates. Our outreach apparently is not sparking the passionate responses we want. Don’t our donors and prospects love us anymore? Why don’t they take...
Leap of Faith
City of Hope realized it had a problem. In 2005, the now 95-year-old Los Angeles-based biomedical research, treatment and educational institution had been mailing an average of 11 annual appeals for about five years. But a changing of the guard...
Five Reasons Not to Panic
Recession is looming. Direct mail is dying. E-mail has fallen short of its bright promise. Donors are cynical. Contributions are drying up faster than the ice caps are melting. It seems like everywhere you turn these days, prophets of doom...
All a Twitter
It was 10 minutes past the time I was to meet someone in the lobby of the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel during the Nonprofit Technology Conference last month. I wandered through the atrium and took a seat alongside Rick Christ,...
What’s the Big Deal?
I’ve been tracking an unusual renewal series as it unfolds — a purely postal mail campaign reminiscent of coordinated multichannel campaigns. Today, savvy nonprofits are exploiting all the multichannel possibilities and using e-mail to bookend renewal and special-appeal campaigns sent...
The Case for Questioning
Let’s face it, a capital campaign is a big step. Many nonprofits have never launched one, yet they know that it’s an essential step to growth....
List Look
Following is a sampling of new-to-the-market and newly managed lists....
Six Bad Habits of Ineffective Fundraisers
When fundraisers are ineffective, it’s almost always because they are the victims of their own mental habits. These bad habits are more harmful than lack of resources, bad economic times or even stupidity. Conquer these habits, and you’ll raise a...
From the Ashes
There’s a lot to be said about failure. Mainly that it stinks. No, seriously — failure helps you appreciate success a little more, right? And on a less existential level, it can teach you a lot about what not to...
