Category Archives: Donor renewal
How Angry Are Your Donors With You? Take this Quiz and Find Out.
Have you upset one of your donors recently? Just how mad do you suppose they are at you, on a scale of 1 to 10? Take this quiz and find out. —————————————————————- Receive a free fundraising tip like this each … Continue reading
Why Average Lifetime Donor Value is the Most Important Metric in Fundraising
Nothing says more about the success of your fundraising program than the lifetime value of your average donor. Average lifetime value, of course, is the gross income you receive from your typical donor during the time the donor is giving … Continue reading
Give Your Donors What They Want so You Get What You Want
Thank your donors promptly and personally every time they mail you a gift. Describe how you are using the donor’s last gift the way the donor intended. The majority of long-term, faithful donors give to make a difference, and many … Continue reading
Boost Your Fundraising Letter Response Rates and Revenue with Five Simple Segmentations
I was 44 years old, about to adopt my second child, and was sitting in my lawyer’s office, looking over his updated draft of my will. Everything looked fine except for one small mistake. Throughout the document, he referred to … Continue reading
Five Indisputable Laws of Direct Mail Donor Acquisition
I am not a prophet, I am not the son of a prophet, but I do serve on the board of a non-profit. And I’ve discovered through the years that charities who succeed at acquiring donors through the mail obey … Continue reading
How to Get a Second Gift from a New Direct Mail Donor
If your charity is at all typical, you will lose 65% of the donors you acquire by direct mail in the first year alone. In other words, only 35% of the donors you acquire through direct mail will give you … Continue reading
Fundraising Letters: Casanova Never Mailed One Love Letter a Year, So Neither Should You
The worst thing you can do in direct mail fundraising is mail only one appeal a year. Direct mail is part of your annual campaign, yes. But that doesn’t mean you should mail only one fundraising letter every 12 months. … Continue reading
Boost Direct Mail Fundraising Response Rates Three Ways
What percentage of your donor base sends your organization a gift each year? If you are at all typical, less than half of your donors at any given time are active. So how can you increase the percentage of your … Continue reading
Know Your Six Fundraising Numbers or Die
If you appeared on the reality TV show Dragon’s Den (or Shark Tank), pitching your charity to investors, would they give you any money? Watch a few episodes of either show and you’ll quickly discover the most common mistake wannabe … Continue reading
Why You Will Lose Donors Today, Guaranteed
What does your charity have to do to guarantee that some of your donors will stop giving today? Nothing. You are going to lose donors today whatever you do. Or don’t do. Donor attrition is a fact of life at … Continue reading
Dear Alan, What do you Recommend for Reminder Letters?
Dear Alan, Do you have any suggestions for the (post direct mail) reminder letter? I would love your thoughts on the letter as well as the donation form. Thanks, Shannon Brown —————————————————————- Receive a free fundraising tip like this each … Continue reading
Christmas Fundraising Letters: Make Your Appeal Original but Contemporary
If your non-profit organization is typical, your direct mail program raises 50 percent of its revenue with one mailing-the Christmas appeal. More people give more money to the “Holiday Season” letter than they give to any other single mailing all … Continue reading
Five Vital Signs of a Healthy Direct Mail Fundraising Program
I spent last night visiting two hospitals with my four-year-old son, Spencer. I noticed that the staff at each hospital took the same vital signs (pulse, oxygen saturation, temperature, breathing) to determine Spencer’s health. Nurses and doctors miles apart, working … Continue reading
Reduce Direct Mail Donor Attrition in Four Ways
Your non-profit loses 15 percent of its donors every year, if you are typical. What can you do to reduce that percentage? —————————————————————- Receive a free fundraising tip like this each week by email. Sign up for Raiser Sharpe Tips … Continue reading
How Donor Acquisition Mailings Differ from Donor Renewal Mailings
Your job as a direct mail fundraiser is to make new friends every and keep them for as long as possible. And to do that you need two kinds of letter, acquisition and renewal. Understand the differences between these two … Continue reading
Direct Mail Fundraising is a Program, Not a Campaign
Before they hired me as their director of development, and before they ran out of money and laid me off, a non-profit organization whose name is unmentionable ran an unmentionable direct mail program. —————————————————————- Receive a free fundraising tip like … Continue reading
In Direct Mail Donor Acquisition, What You Win Them With Is What You Win Them To.
Want to learn a vital lesson in donor retention? Here’s a tactic from Sunday School to avoid. —————————————————————- Receive a free fundraising tip like this each week by email. Sign up for Raiser Sharpe Tips here Browse Alan’s books, handbooks … Continue reading
How Long are your Donors? Improve Donor Tenure and You’ll Boost Fundraising Request Letter Revenue.
How long do most of your donors contribute to your organization before they walk away? One year? Five? Ten? You should know. —————————————————————- Receive a free fundraising tip like this each week by email. Sign up for Raiser Sharpe Tips … Continue reading
Fundraising Letter Frequency: Mail Often Enough to Prove Friends Stay in Touch.
Want to know one of the most vital truths in direct mail fundraising? Friends stay in touch. —————————————————————- Receive a free fundraising tip like this each week by email. Sign up for Raiser Sharpe Tips here Browse Alan’s books, handbooks … Continue reading
Year-End Fundraising Letter Appeals: 7 Tips to Give Them a Boost.
If your non-profit organization is like many others, you receive half or more or your contributed income at the end of the year as part of what used to be called the “Christmas Appeal.” —————————————————————- Receive a free fundraising tip … Continue reading
First-Time Direct Mail Donors: How To W-I-N Them Over As Repeat Givers.
Don’t ask me how I know, but in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings you’ll sometimes hear a member mention “The Elephant in the Living Room.” —————————————————————- Receive a free fundraising tip like this each week by email. Sign up for Raiser Sharpe … Continue reading
