Posts Tagged ‘Douglas Shaw and Associates’
Three 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 MoreMeasuring COVID-19 Impact By Mark Mangin
Measuring the Impact of COVID-19 on Fundraising Programs COVID-19 has affected all of us profoundly. It changed the way we serve the public, interact with coworkers, and even the way we fundraise. So, as we seek to learn from the data, how do we measure the impact of COVID-19 on our fundraising programs? Here is…
Read MoreUnderstanding Donors and Potential By Keith Cleghorn
What Every Fundraiser Needs to Know about Donors Chances are at some point in your fundraising career, you will question your communication plan for “major donors.” And while Douglas Shaw and Associates is not a major gifts consulting firm, we are often invited into conversations as an organization in defining the “boundaries” between direct response…
Read MorePandemics, Elections and Fundraising By Wiley Stinnett and Christa Huff
What You Need to Know About Pandemics, Elections and Your Fundraising Now that we are a few months into this global pandemic, what have we learned about its impact on fundraising and what’s on the horizon—especially with the upcoming elections? The Pandemic So far, we’ve learned that the impact of COVID-19 is a process, not…
Read MoreWhat If I Don’t Have the Funds to Invest in Donor Acquisition? By Wiley Stinnett
The Reality About New Donor Acquisition Since I don’t know of any free way to new donor acquisition, you’ve got a big challenge. Current Reality The Fundraising Effectiveness Project showed that on average, over half of your donors from last year will not give a gift again this year. That’s an industry average attrition rate…
Read MoreKey Metrics for Donor Acquisition by Jillian Jenkins Mangin
TWO KEY METRICS THAT ARE CRITICAL TO DONOR ACQUISITION The start of a new year is one of the most enjoyable times of year for those of us who work in fundraising. The gifts are entered, the batches are complete, and now we get to see the cumulative impact of donors who were inspired to…
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