Save Letters And Learn

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Suggestion for you; save all of the fundraising letters and emails you receive between now and Christmas.

The best, free way to get great at fundraising is to watch what the professionals are doing and to apply the same principles to your organization’s fundraising.

Three tips to help you get the most out of this exercise:

  1. When you review the materials, look at them as a donor, not as a Fundraiser. Don’t analyze every word, just look at them for a few seconds – like most donor’s do.
  2. Make sure you’re saving the fundraising materials from at least one large organization where the fundraising is done by professionals. You may not personally like this fundraising as much, but it’s proven to work and you can learn from it.
  3. Count the total number of times each organization contacts you between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Chances are it will be more than you think — and that your organization can be communicating to your donors more often.

You’ll be surprised at how much you’ll learn. And you’ll be able to apply it to raise more money next year!

Jim Shapiro

Jim Shapiro is the fundraising coach you’ve always wanted, the proven Sherpa who can help you get to the top of the mountain. Jim has 30 years’ experience raising money, including serving as the VP of Development for a global $100m nonprofit. He co-founded The Better Fundraising Co. to help small-to-medium nonprofits raise more money.

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