Posts Tagged ‘Douglas Shaw and Associates’
The Importance of Thank You By Douglas Shaw
Rule #36: Saying Thank you to donors is necessary and profitable Saying thank you – it sounds so simple, right? There’s a great Wallace Shawn line from the classic movie, The Princess Bride, that always come to mind whenever I hear the annual poll results of donors’ top two giving complaints: (1) not being thanked…
Read MoreYour Most Valuable Quality During Year-End By Shelley Cochrane
Keep the Right Focus at Year-End The year-end giving season is a busy time when development staff works fast and furiously to keep donor processes running smoothly. Rightly, you concentrate on shoring up data entry processes, fixing payment processing issues, updating website pages, and making address changes. These processes are critical. What Matters Most But…
Read MoreWhen Your Cookie Crumbles By Amy Sewell
Love and Care of Your Cookies! Amid fundraising seasons—the last thing you probably want to hear about are major changes and cookies crumbling. However, there IS a major technical change that should be on your radar. Unfortunately, we don’t know the day this change will hit, but as of the writing of this article it…
Read MoreThe Importance of a Strong Data Team By Robert Johnson
The Power of a Strong Data Team There is a good chance the job description for any data team member role includes words like “diligent, conscientious, and eye for detail” . . . and for good reason. The information processed by the data team plays a key role in future strategies and the success of…
Read MoreHow to Create Urgency in Digital Campaigns By Jason Wood
Two Highly Effective Ways to Increase Urgency in Digital Campaigns Creating a sense of urgency in digital fundraising is an effective way to increase results, which can lead to a greater impact for your organization. But how? Here are two highly useful visual tactics you can incorporate into your next online campaign: countdown timers and…
Read MoreThree Design Qualities that Get Results By Catalina Chavez
It’s time to focus on what matters in design! Prettier design isn’t always better. Design is more than just making your next direct response fundraising piece (digital or print) look good. It’s about making it something that’s designed to get results! Good design evokes emotion and action. It allows your donors to know exactly what…
Read MoreWhat Outcomes Does Your Case For Support Create? By Shelley Cochrane
Is Your Case For Support Attracting or Repelling? One of the ways nonprofits demonstrate their gift-worthiness is through a written Case for Support document. When I worked on my first Case for Support, I described our vision and mission, goals for the future, the people we were helping, the cost, and a brief history. That…
Read MoreDirect Mail Brings Huge Success By Christa Huff
Don’t Believe the Rumors About Direct Mail! There have long been (unsubstantiated) rumors of the demise of direct mail. In fact, this workhorse of our direct response fundraising plan has been a steady, reliable source of funding. And after everything that happened in 2020, this approached turned into the fundraising hero of the year. As…
Read MoreDonor Impact Reports By Christa Huff
Creating Effective Donor Impact Reports One of the main reasons donors fail to give again is because they didn’t receive impact reports. They didn’t know what their first gift accomplished. It might seem straightforward to you, but they want to see how their gift impacted the cause. There are a multitude of ways you can…
Read More5 Ways to Improve Your Fundraising Strategy By Shelley Cochrane
5 Improvements to Your 2021 Fundraising Strategy A new year presents the opportunity to put fresh eyes on how well you’re engaging your donors and connecting them to the impact their gifts are making. Take a moment to evaluate these five areas to strengthen the bond with your donors. (1) LOOK BACK Look at your…
Read More