Specific ways to make your fundraising donor-focused

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19 October 2015

Specific ways to make your fundraising donor-focused

Everyone talks about being donor-focused. Talk is cheap. If you want to reap the rewards of focusing on the donor, you have to actually do it.

Here are some ways to do that, from Fired-Up Fundraising, at How to Create a Donor-Centered Appeal Letter by Writing With Love:

Avoid "org speak." (Talk to the donor about what she can do, not about how amazing your organization is.)
Skip the jargon.
Keep your writing clear.
Make it compelling. (Make it clear how much a difference she can make.)
Keep your writing free of typos and grammatical errors.
Get personal. (Really make it about the donor!)
Be creative.

The secret of donor-focused fundraising is to connect with the donor's heart and values. To show how your cause connects with her mission. It means no bragging, no "educating," and no abstractions about your awesomeness.

Posted by Jeff Brooks on 19 October 2015 at 08:18 | Permalink

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The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It's not about any technology, medium, or technique. It's about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It's already here. More.

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Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 30 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you'll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com. More.

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