Category: Fundraising

How to raise more money with your website.

9/1/2017

By now you know how to create a fantastic donation page.

But the donation page is only part (the final part) of the non-profit website puzzle. Before your visitors can donate, you have to get them there, and make sure they’re in a giving mood when they arrive.

Not an easy task!

Don’t worry.

Together we’ll get your website working like a tear-jerking fundraising machine that snatches your donors up and doesn’t let them go till they scream ‘take my money!’

Maybe that’s a bit too far…

But seriously, if you want to make your website more effective, you’ve come to the right place.

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How to choose a good story for your fundraising.

8/27/2017

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Donors love a good story.

It helps them connect the money they give to the good work you do.

You know you need a story for your next newsletter or fundraising appeal. But what story should you use? Will any story do?

No.

A boring story can actually hurt your fundraising efforts.

It can bore your reader into putting down your letter – exactly the opposite of what you were trying to accomplish!
Should you take that as a reason to avoid storytelling altogether? Of course not. But understand that not all stories are equal.

So how do you pick a good one?

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What to do if Trump (or whoever) cuts your funding.

3/21/2017

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Maybe it's happened to you already. Maybe it's gonna happen.

What if Trump cuts your funding? What are the people who depend on you going to do for help? What are you going to do?

I don't have a long term solution, but I do have a temporary one to buy you some time.

Send out an emergency appeal letter.

Be straight with your donors:

“We need you now more than ever. We're losing our government funding. These are the programs that are affected. This is what we need to raise to keep them going. Let me introduce you to <sympathetic person>, who is depending on us for... If everyone would give $X, we can get through this. Please give what you can.”

Will it replace the nice, reliable stream of government funding? No.

Will it help? Damn right it will. And it will give your donors a head's up that you're gonna need their support more than ever.

It'll also show them that you aren't about to quit, and that their money is well spent, still going to help the people they're hoping to help.

As a fundraiser, you have an advantage right now. People are angry. They know Trump is cutting funding for some very important organizations and programs.

They want to do something about it. And your appeal letter gives them something to do.

Anger is a great motivator. Your job is to take advantage of it, and tap into it, and raise money with it.

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How to raise more money with your website.

How to choose a good story for your fundraising.

What to do if Trump (or whoever) cuts your funding.

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