This month we’re sharing the ideas and strategies that had an outsized positive impact on the nonprofits we serve.
Today’s idea is that there’s an approach to appeals (appeal letters and e-appeals) that, in our experience, tend to work the best.
Here’s the simplest summary of what the performance data leads us to believe:
- The most successful appeals tend to be about the help that your beneficiaries or cause needs now, and how the donor’s gift will provide that help.
- The less successful appeals tend to be about help that the organization has already provided, and request support for the organization.
When organizations change their appeals to be about the help that’s needed, and how the donor’s gift will help provide it, two things happen. First, each appeal raises more money. Second, the organization retains more donors year-over year.
Put another way, they start raising more money in the short term and in the long term.
Of course, appeals like this are only one element in an effective donor communications plan. And they take a lot of thought to create. For instance, appeals like this only describe part of an organization’s work. You have to choose which part of your work to talk about, and you have to talk about it in an accessible way.
But if you create appeals that follow this approach, you’ll start raising more money immediately.
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If you’re interested in what it would look like to have Better Fundraising write and design your fundraising, fill out the “get in touch” form on this page. We’ll reach out to schedule a chat.
And if you fill out the form before the end of the month, we’ll give you our 2024 pricing for all of 2025, a savings of $3,500.
