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Sharing #donorlove
You’ve been to that cocktail party where you’re having a great conversation about “that” thing – that thing you both agree drives you crazy/makes you happy/tears your heart apart/have a fully belly...
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How to: Legacies 101
Welcome to the latest instalment of our “Star Wars” themed 101 series! To date, we have had a look at Direct Mail 101, Thank you letters 101, Newsletters 101 and today Rory Green will take us through...
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E is for Empathy
Last week, I stood in my kitchen sorting through the empty containers, dirty sock (singular), torn pieces of paper and other various pieces of riffraff that sat in my daughters school back pack. I came...
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Parliament, Murder and Murmuration
Your Agents of Good, as our cherished and punished clients know, have banned the word “data” from our language. It’s not “data”. They are DONORS! It’s not “extracting the data”, or “data segmentation”...
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Pandora’s box
Once upon a time, the story says, there once was a girl named Pandora. On her wedding day, the mighty God Zeus gave her a beautiful box as a gift. The box came with a note, which said: “DO NOT OPEN.”...
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Everything I learned about direct mail, I learned from my mother in law
I was asked this past January to do a presentation about direct response by Mazarine at Wild Woman Fundraising – especially how it relates to direct mail. A few days after agreeing to it, I sat at my...
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Premiums suck
People assume that the AOG natural position is this: Premiums suck. Notepads, pens, shirts, bags, labels, stickers, cards… yah. I would agree. More often than not, those premiums suck. They are often...
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Donor Fatigue
I’m in the middle of a sneak peak of Tom Ahern’s latest book – and don’t worry Tom, I won’t give away the surprise of what it’s called. In one section, Tom looks at the issue of donor fatigue. I’ve sat...
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Listen to Mr. Jack White
“People think when you write and you create you are the person in control and you are making all this happen as if you’re some kind of magician or something. But it’s not really that. You sit there and...
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Automation Kills
Next week I am doing a webinar called “How to Loverize* Your Donors with Direct Mail: Secrets to Boost Your Revenue” for Gail Perry. There is one section, that above all the others, I guarantee will...
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The Problem With Marketing
…Specifically, as it relates to charities and non-profits. noun: marketing the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising. Charities...
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Ana’s story
This fall, we had the privilege of working with The Redwood in Toronto on their Gratitude Report. Like always, we asked, what was the story? We wanted a personal story for this report. When we got...
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Making mistakes #FTW
A colleague of ours sent this email just a short time ago. (Hope she doesn’t mind me sharing it!) “Despite thorough live tests, somehow an email campaign we just launched went out with the notorious...
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THE RANT OF THE WHINY DONOR
Those of you who are on twitter may have heard of “@thewhinydonor“… If you haven’t – I suggest you follow her – she is your donor. Her insights to your asks, activity, automation, lack of gratitude,...
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The NEXT BIG THING!
We are on the verge of a brand new year and already planning and brainstorming for the newest, most innovative and grandiose IDEA that will get all the people of the world TALKING ABOUT and GIVING TO...
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Donor-close
“Of course we are donor-centred,” he said, stabbing his most recent letter proudly. “Look… We start off the letter with the donors name! And we have like… Six ‘you’s’ in it!!!” I looked at him. Not...
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The Problem With Marketing – Part 2
I admit my first post was a little simplistic but more importantly I think I missed the mark in my rant. As a result, it became part of a little virtual dust up between marketers and fundraisers. You...
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Humber River Hospital Foundation
We often describe our work — to steal an analogy from Fraser Green — as many notes in a symphony. Every mailing, every touch point, every e-blast is a “note” that we must play perfectly. It has to tell...
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Design for donors
This past week, we had a wonderful meeting with our friends at CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) in Toronto. On our way into the boardroom, we walked pass a wall of posters that featured...
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Looking at Marketing Through a Donor Lens
A while ago, I got a chance to sit down with Beth Brodovsky to talk about marketing! As a fundraiser and marketer — I spend a lot of time thinking about inspiring donors through thoughtful...
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