You and your donors: Who’s the sidekick?
Jeff Brooks of the Future Fundraising Now blog highlights the mindset your campaign or organization must possess if you truly want to be successful at fundraising…
Do you think of your donors as heroes? How about as superheroes? The 101fundraising blog has some suggestions at “Treat donors like the superheroes they are.”
- You write stories about them
- You ask for their help when in need
- You smooth the communication with them
- You keep them in the loop with all developments
- You prove them you are the right ally to win the battle
- You should never forget them
Here’s another way to treat donors as superheroes: Think of your organization has their sidekick. You’re not quite as awesome as they are, but you are very helpful, and you complete them. A lot of fundraising gets it backwards, basically saying, “I’m incredibly awesome. How’d you like to be my sidekick?”
If your mental picture of the relationship has you in the sidekick role, your fundraising will be much more relevant and persuasive.
Here’s a powerful way to get your envelope noticed and opened
Continuing with Mr. Brooks…
“After the call to action, the element of a direct mail piece that matters most for response is the outer envelope. Here’s something to consider when you’re thinking about that envelope: copy and design are not the only elements you can work with. The envelope is a physical object, and you can change the physical properties of it, and that can be a very effective way to improve your fundraising results.”
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Are You Making These Four Stupid Fundraising Mistakes
“How often have you had to keep a straight face when someone suggested something that was … well, frankly, stupid?” writes Pamela Barden in her Old Dog Fundraising blog. “Here are a few things I see that (it seems to me) started out as optimism but are now sliding swiftly down the slope toward stupidity. If you identify with any of them, try to throw yourself in their paths and stop the looming disaster before it’s too late.”
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Famous Last Words
“Recently I had the good fortune to meet with one of the all-time-great venture capitalists, and as is so often the case in such circumstances, I asked this industry trailblazer what he considered to be the key to his enormous success. Interestingly, he described himself as a fundraiser. He told me he never would have raised the gazillions in investor funds that he did without first finding out precisely what his prospect wanted to buy – and then directing the sale accordingly.” – Kevin Gentry of the Charles Koch Foundation