I think this is the most helpful video I’ve ever made.
If you’d like to know how to:
It’s all in there. Take a look!
There’s a type of story that works incredibly well to raise money…
…an incomplete story with a current need.
Here’s a video I recorded last year with Chris Davenport from the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference that explains what I mean.
There are two reasons this video is helpful:
Watch the video! It’s 11 minutes long, but it goes fast. And the ideas I share will jumpstart your fundraising this fall!
One final thing to mention: I’ll be speaking at the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference this fall in San Diego (November 2-4). And you can save $400 if you take advantage of the Early Bird special until tomorrow, September 15th.
During these crazy last few months, nonprofits we serve have had a lot of success raising money using strong fundraising offers. By that I mean highlighting a specific part of what the nonprofit does and then asking the donor to send in a gift today to fund that part.
Not asking the donor to “partner with us” or to “support our mission” or to “provide hope.” But asking the donor just to fund the part that the appeal focuses on.
There’s a good question that must be answered when using this approach:
“How can you raise undesignated funds in your appeal if it focuses only on one program – even just one part of one program?”
This free video answers that question.
The video makes it easy for you by showing you the things you need to say in your appeals, and the places you need to say them, to raise undesignated funds.
I also share how to think about this approach – which is new for most people.
It’s just 5 minutes long and is completely free. But watch it so that you too can enjoy the benefits of raising more money that come from talking about specific programs or parts of your organization – while raising undesignated funding!
Don’t miss this if you’re doing any fundraising over the next 4 weeks.
This Friday at 10:00 am Pacific Time I’ll be reviewing COVID-19/Coronavirus fundraising.
You can submit your material for review by going here to sign up (it’s free).
I’ll be using the reviews to teach you what to do – and what not to do – to raise money effectively during this crisis.
Because it’s a great time to raise money. But most organizations don’t move quickly enough, or they send out messages that are mostly irrelevant to their donors.
You should tune in this Friday because it’s not too late to take advantage of the massive surge in giving that’s going on even as you read this email.
Donor generosity is blowing us away these past few days. They WANT to help!
So sign up for free and I’ll see you on Friday at 10:00 AM Pacific time!
Last year I came up with a way to make it easier than ever to raise more money with your year-end emails.
It’s a super-easy template you can follow. Your emails will take less time to create AND you’ll raise more money!
And I know it’s July at the moment – but we focus a ton on year-end fundraising around here.
(By the way, all that focus is paying off; last year every one of our clients raised more money at year-end than the year before. That’s a great deal higher than the national average.)
We’ve noticed that the most successful fundraising organizations start creating their year-end fundraising earlier than they need to. They know things will get busy in November and December, and they know their year-end fundraising pieces are the most important pieces they send all year.
So they start early – and you can too. And watch this 7-minute video (and bookmark it!) to save yourself a bunch of time this year-end!
I teach often about the power of using specific offers – highlighting specific programs or even parts of programs – in your appeals and e-appeals.
Then a good question always comes up:
“But how do I raise undesignated funds in my appeal letter if my appeal focuses only on one program?”
This video answers that question.
I also share how to think about this approach – which is new for most people.
It’s just 5 minutes long. But watch it so that you too can enjoy the benefits of raising more money, benefits that come from talking about specific programs or parts of your organization – while raising undesignated funding!
I make a lot of fundraising videos.
It’s a joy when a video helps a lot of people raise more money – and that’s exactly what this video has done.
I made it with Jeff Brooks and Chris Davenport. It’s called 7 Crucial Storytelling Tips to Improve Your Fundraising.
You’ll learn Jeff’s best tip for how to start your stories, my advice on the best stories to tell in appeals, and why repetition is so important to successful fundraising.
It’s a long one – 20 minutes – but if you watch just the first couple of minutes you’ll leave with a tip that will help you raise more money the very next time you send a communication to your donors. I hope you’ll watch it and raise more money!
I think it’s the most helpful video I’ve ever made.
If you’d like to know how to:
It’s all in there. Watch the video!
If you’ve never listed to “Fundraising Is Beautiful,” the podcast I host with Jeff Brooks, now is a great time to start!
We just released a fantastic interview with Jen Love and John Lepp from Agents of Good in Toronto. Not only are they fun people, but you’ll absolutely be a better fundraiser after listening to their perspectives on donor love, how fundraisers can take care of themselves, and why innovation so often doesn’t work.
I’ve been doing this podcast since 2007 and can say – without a doubt – that this is one of my favorite episodes.
And it’s the first in a series of interviews we’re doing with smart fundraisers you can learn from – both how they succeed in fundraising and the important lessons they’ve learned along the way.
If you’d like to listen or subscribe to this free resource, here’s where to go:
iTunes — Google Music — SoundCloud — Stitcher
My personal recommendation for a podcast app for your phone: Overcast. The feature I love: you can play podcasts a little faster than normal speed. I don’t know what software magic they use to make the words still easy to understand, but it works great and saves so much time.
I hope you’ll take a listen to the podcast!