Here are the 5 most-read Future Fundraising Now blog posts in the month of September:

1. I hate and admire this scammy direct mail envelope

2. Get used to hokey fundraising

3. Why fundraisers want to use jargon -- and why we shouldn't

4. Educating is not fundraising ... so what is?

5. I'm a writer, not a whiteboard!

Looking for some really good (and specific) advice for your fundraising? Book a FREE consultation with Sean Triner of Moceanic. Sean knows his stuff, and can help you find your way forward.

According to informal research (i.e. the random fundraising mail that shows up in my mailbox), there’s a default way to do direct mail fundraising.

It’s like this:

• #10 outer envelope, window or closed face, with a teaser like a journalistic headline -- it clearly signals what’s inside, like, “Please help hungry children in the community today!”
  
• One page letter. Because “nobody reads any more.” Often with a puzzling photo of some activity. Type is often tiny (10 point or less) to get it all to fit on one side of the letter.
  
• Reply Device either a coupon (about 8.5 x 3.5”) or a small “bangtail” envelope where the donor must write in their details.
  
• A brochure of some kind (optional).
  
• #9 (or smaller) return envelope, unless there’s a “bangtail” reply device.
  

Straightforward, affordable, easy.

If your direct mail fundraising looks like this, you need to change it. Right away. Here’s why:

• There’s nothing wrong with a #10 outer envelope; it’s affordable and works just fine. But larger (or smaller) sizes tend to work better. It’s the journalistic teaser that could be hurting you: With a few exceptions, the best approach is mystery. More people pay attention to an envelope that doesn’t say exactly what’s inside. The go-to thing is no teaser at all.
  
• Hold on to your hat, because I’m going to tell you something that may surprise you: Longer letters overwhelmingly perform better than short ones. A one-page letter is a big mistake (usually). Two pages, four pages, or more should be your standard letters. (And 12 point type is the smallest the letter copy should be. Bigger yet is better!
  
• Coupon-sized reply devices aren’t going to kill you, but something bigger is likely to do better. And a reply device combined with an envelope is a pretty dependable loser.
  
• Lift pieces work. They usually “lift” response. But not brochures.
  
• #9 is a good go-to size for a return envelope. You can improve it a bit by using a color paper other than white.
  

I’m not sure why the “default” direct format is so common. Are they teaching that in fundraising school?

But don’t do it!

Is your fundraising messaging all about how successful your organization is at solving the problems it exists to solve?

If so, you are not raising what you could raise.

Here’s a very useful discussion of this at the Veritus Group Blog: Why Talking About the Problem Is So Difficult.

Here’s the main point:

When you are wanting to secure the gift – when you are doing the ask – that is when you talk about the problem in human and emotional terms ... The ask is mostly about the devastating problem you are presenting to the donor. And then asking them to join you (the organization) in doing something about it.

The post gives a helpful framework for asking. Your message when asking should be 90% about the problem and 10% about your previous solutions. That 10% should not be at the beginning of end, but sandwiched in the middle.

Only after a donor has given do you turn that around. In stewardship communications, you flip the formula: 90% about how the donor’s giving is making a difference, 10% about the next problem to solve.

That’s the formula for successful and sustainable fundraising.

Studies show that two spaces after a period is more readable than one.

Here's a report on a study in The Atlantic, at The Scientific Case for Two Spaces After a Period. Money quote:

... there was an increase in reading speed of 3% when reading text with two spaces following periods, as compared to one. This is ... an average of nine additional words per minute above their performance under the one-space conditions.

I think all of us old-line two-spacers pumped our fists in the air in a celebration of victory ... and then doubled over in pain because that motion really makes your shoulder hurt. (Or is that just me?)

Being an opinionated writer, I have opinions about the two-space vs one-space "controversy." This is going to be awfully nerdy, so if you're not a nerdy word-person, you might want to move along about now.

• I have no way of knowing if the research was valid, repeatable, or meaningful. But I bet that if that extra space between sentences matters, it only matters a little bit. Do you really think that a block of one-space copy chases away some huge percentage of readers?
  
• I root for two-spaces because anything that lets a bit more "air" into your text, making it less of a solid wall of gray type, has to be good. A far more effective way to do that is to use short paragraphs.
  
• If you're writing for the web, HTML takes away the decision. It's going to show only one space, no matter how many you type. (There's a way to hard-code the extra space in, but let's be realistic -- who's gonna do that?)
  
• Either way, I'm too old to change. I can't not hit that space bar twice after a period. It's as automatic as breathing. I've actually tried. Can't do it.
  
• If some proofreader with time on their hands wants to take the extra spaces out of something I've written, go ahead. I have other things to worry about.
  

So God bless the researchers. This time, anyway.

(This post first appeared on May 16, 2018.)

Charitable bequests are a big deal. Organizations that are on top of marketing this form of giving can raise half of all their income through bequests.

Another way of saying that is: They’re raising twice as much as equivalent organizations that aren’t paying attention to bequests.

What should you be doing? Here’s some help from Freewill, at 3 tips to boost planned giving:

1. Dispel common myths about making a will. Some myths to dispel:
   
   • Wills are only important if you have a lot of money or property.
     
   • My family knows what I want, so I don’t need a will.
     
   • Writing a will is a long, complicated, and expensive process.
     
   
   
2. Make it easy & free for everyone to make a will. Most people can have a very useful will without spending a penny on lawyers. You can help them do it!
   
3. Emphasize the lasting impact of planned gifts for both you and your donors. Talking about a bequest might seem like a discussion about death. If you approach it that way, you won’t get very far! Instead, make it about life! It’s about how the donor’s values and impact will continue well into the future.
   

Everybody talks about donor-focused fundraising. But what is it, actually? Listen to discover a new and more effective way to understand — and create — donor-focused fundraising.

From the archives of the now-defunct podcast Fundraising Is Beautiful. This episode first aired on June 1, 2016. Listen here:

(If you don't see the audio player below, click here to listen.)

Oppportunity for you:

Raise more money, have a great time, and save big

If you’ve been to a few fundraising conferences, you know they can be hit or miss.

And a lot of miss.

Let me tell you about a conference that is always a hit:

It’s the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference. This is the only fundraising conference I always recommend...

Because it’s the best.

I don’t say that lightly. It really stands above all the others. For excellent practical content that you can put to work immediately and start raising more money.

But even more for the spirit of the conference. It is just a good community of fundraisers who want to do their best and are ready to get all nerdy about how we connect with donors. (And no sales weasels!)

I’ll be there. I go every year. Maybe we can meet?

Here are the details:

• Where: San Diego (Better weather than almost anyplace else in North America in November!)
  
• When: November 2-4
  

Register before Friday and get the low Summer Sale price. After Friday, registration goes up $400. Still a fantastic deal, but why not save $400 for the best fundraising conference there is?

Check it out!

"I'll know it when I see it."

If you're a professional writer and hear that, your blood runs cold.

Because it really means, "I don't have time to think about it, and I have no respect for your time."

Put on a blindfold and start throwing darts. We'll eventually hit the middle of the dartboard!

Except you probably won't hit the bullseye. Ever. You might never get close to the dartboard at all.

And it's not just blindly throwing darts. Each "throw" -- assuming it's a serious attempt at effective, readable, persuasive writing -- is a meaningful use of time, energy, and commitment.

Rejected, ignored, tossed out -- because it's not the thing someone will know once they see.

The writer becomes a whiteboard. Scribble something, erase, scribble something else. Except they aren't just quick scribbles. Each one takes hours of time and a lot of energy.

After a few random attempts, the quality starts to drop. The energy fades. The writer goes into survival mode, like a bear in hibernation. Just "on" enough to type out words that more or less do the job.

But Mr. I'll-Know-It-When-I-See-It (let's call him Mr. IKIWISI -- and yes, he's usually a Mr.) keeps sending it back. "Take another stab at it," he says, often using language that shows he thinks writing is a form of violence.

By the time Mr. IKIWISI finally sees "it," it's a weak shadow of what it should have been. Sometimes, that weak-shadow quality is exactly what Mr. IKIWISI was looking for. In any case, far too much time has been spent, and the product is usually ineffective.

Now it's true that sometimes the struggle to put something in writing is actually the struggle to know what you wanted to say in the first place. You know: How do I know what I think until I see what I say?

That "figure it out" stage should happen on a document that's not pretending to be the final public piece you want. There should be a document that puts in writing these things:

• Whom we're communicating with.
  
• What we know about them and what they know about us.
  
• What precisely we want this project to encourage them to do (even if that is just to get them to think about something).
  
• The emotional coloring of the message.
  
• The story we're going to tell to make it vivid for them.
  
• How the writing will reach them. (A letter sent by mail? A web page? A speech?)
  
• Anything else necessary to know -- limited number of words, unusual context, etc.
  

This document might be called the Brief. That's what they call it in the advertising world. It's where Mr. IKIWISI should get all choosy about the message. And once he (and anyone else who should have an opinion about it) agree ...

Then it goes to the writer. (Who usually should be part of creating this document in the first place.)

Now the writer, even this well equipped, can still get it wrong. Even the best writers sometimes miss the mark. But at least they're heading in the right direction. They'll be able to fix it much more quickly than they could with random "stabs."

Here's why this matters: An hour spent up front creating solid, complete, and well thought-out brief will save 10 hours (or more) later on. That's 10 frustrating, wheel-spinning, soul-crushing hours that usually end with a less-effective product.

So use your writer as a writer. And your whiteboard as a whiteboard.

(This post first appeared on May 8, 2018.)

Educating is not fundraising.

This is a hard truth for many of us, because we know a lot more about our cause, the problems we tackle, and the ways we approach our work. It’s natural to assume that if we can deposit some of the knowledge into donors’ minds, they’ll be more likely to give.

That’s a bad assumption, and it leads to a lot of ineffective fundraising.

Because charitable giving is not a matter of knowledge. It’s a matter of heart-driven action.

Every sentence you spend on teaching donors about the cause is a waste that doesn’t move most donors any closer to giving.

To move donors to action, it’s far better to tell them about things they already know, as explained in this great post on the Better Fundraising Blog: Start on Common Ground.

Here’s the key point:

If you would like your letters and emails to raise more money, they should begin by talking about something the donor already understands, as opposed to asking the donor to learn something new.

This is surprisingly difficult to do. Because in your own head, your knowledge about your cause and your programs is tightly connected to your sense of the need to join the cause.

The more I know, the more I understand, the more I give.

But that’s not how it works with donors. (And it probably doesn’t work that way even with you, it’s an illusion.)

This is why successful fundraising is built around storytelling.

This is why successful fundraising keeps it simple.

This is why we raise the most when we appeal to the donor’s heart.

Education is a very good thing. But it’s not a clear path to giving.

You’ve seen the panic. Numerous sources, including Giving USA and The Nonprofit Times show that giving in 2022 (the most recent year we have figures for) was lower than in 2021.

A year-to-year fundraising drop is uncommon. This is only the 4th time the last 40 years. Worse yet is the amount of the drop: revenue was down 10.5% (adjusted for inflation), and giving by individuals was down 13.4%.

Much of the drop in revenue is caused by unusually high donor attrition. Poor retention is a perennial problem in fundraising, but in 2022, we lost donors like never before.

We don’t have a lot of information yet about 2023, but anecdotally, this year isn’t going great either for many organizations.

Maybe the sky is falling. But I don’t think so.

I think what’s happening isn’t so much a collapse in giving as it is a regression to the mean.

That’s something that tends to happen all over the place. When something is unusual, it tends to return to normal. If you are much taller than your parents and grandparents, you kids will likely be shorter than you. Things tend to move toward “normal.”

It’s happening in fundraising: 2020 and 2021 were record-breaking years for many fundraisers. The pandemic unlocked unprecedented levels of giving. We were all living through a self-evident crisis. Nonprofits of all kinds faced existential crises.

Donors stepped up to make a difference. New donors showed up in unheard-of numbers. Many donors gave larger amounts than ever. Many of us set new personal-best results in our fundraising. Our donors gave more than ever. Many new donors poured in

Now the pandemic is “over” -- at least in the psychological major crisis sense. And fundraising is getting back to normal, regressing to the mean.

The largest drops in donor retention were new and second-year donors -- people who gave for the first time in 2020 and 2021. Now that the crisis is past, many of those never-before donors are returning to their typical state of not giving.

Fundraising these past few years is behaving very much like it does around “normal” disasters (like hurricanes): Giving jumps, driven both by current donors giving more and by a surge in new donors, motivated by the crisis.

Then giving drops back to normal. The difference is that instead of happening over the course of a few weeks, this spike and drop is taking years.

Should you be worried about this drop?

Maybe. Here’s how to tell how worried you should be:

Instead of just comparing 2022 and/or 2023 giving to 2020 or 2021, ignore those years. Compare current giving to 2019 or before.

Many (maybe most) organizations find that current “down” fundraising is still better than 2019 -- which was a pretty good year by pre-pandemic standards. So even though giving is down, you probably kept some of those new pandemic donors, and many of your upgraded donors are staying upgraded.

So while it hurts to be down, you’re actually up, bigger picture.

If your fundraising revenue now is lower than it was in 2019, you probably should be worried. That might indicate that you have a deeper problem than regression to the mean.

If that’s the case, you should take a deep look at your fundraising data and at your messaging to see if you can discover and correct whatever is going wrong.

If I were you, and realized I needed to take a deep look at my fundraising, I’d look for expert help. Here’s where you can get it for FREE: Book a 25-minute consultation with Sean Triner of Moceanic. Sean knows his stuff, and can help you find your way forward if times are tough.

For many nonprofits, fundraising results are down. That’s scary.

But there are some smart things you can to that will help you in hard times. Check out this excellent post at Clairification: Top 10 Strategies to Navigate the Current Cloudy Nonprofit Landscape. Some great things you can do right now:

1. Invest in Strategies to Retain More Donors. In hard times, it’s even harder to get new donors. That means you need to work extra hard to hold on to the donors you already have. Do everything in your power to be your donors’ favorite cause: The one that speaks to them with relevance and respect, the one that thanks them quickly and emotionally, the one that makes it clear their giving makes a difference. When you do those things, donor retention goes way up. And a retained donor is more valuable than a new donor.
   
2. Ask for a Larger Gift. Donors want to make a difference. Ask them to do more. Not all of them can or will, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Really!
   
3. Ask for a Monthly Gift. Now is the time to really push for monthly donors. Some donors will say yes ... if you ask them and give them good reasons to do so. And the jump in value-per-donor for monthly donors goes through the roof.
   
4. Ask for Gifts from Donor Advised Funds. Find out who has DAFs and then do your best to connect with them through that giving channel. The average gift is much higher.
   
5. Ask for Engagement in Peer-to-Peer Fundraising. Give them more to do than just send you money. Those who succeed at this can be real super-advocates.
   
6. Ask for Matching Gifts. Go to your mid-level and major donors and ask them to give to create matching funds. Then go to the rest of your donors with powerful match appeals. Both groups respond well to this offer!
   
7. Suggest Gifts of Stock. While most donors won’t do this, it’s a great tool for those who do. It can help them and boost your revenue.
   
8. Ask for Legacy Gifts. Bequests to charities are a huge source of revenue. But they rarely happen unless you ask donors to consider it.
   
9. Test, Test, Test! Your sense of what should work is miles away from perfect. Don’t make stuff up. Find out what really works ... by testing, or if you don’t have the quantity for valid tests, ask around and find out what those who do test know.
   
10. Treat Donors Respectfully. If you don’t treat your donors with love and respect, they’ll leave. It’s very simple. Your attitude about them shines through, even if you’re trying to hide it.
    

Here are the 5 most-read Future Fundraising Now blog posts in the month of August:

1. I hate and admire this scammy direct mail envelope

2. Pinky-out fundraising: When "rules" confuse you

3. What happened to Stupid Nonprofit Ads?

4. One big secret that unleashes relevant fundraising

5. Every fundraiser needs a flair for drama

Looking for some really good (and specific) advice for your fundraising? Book a FREE consultation with Sean Triner of Moceanic. Sean knows his stuff, and can help you find your way forward.

Serena had cancer, but now she’s well.

That’s a story, or at least the outline of a story.

But is it a story you’d eagerly drop whatever you’re doing to read?

Not really, right?

Unless you know Serena personally, it doesn’t promise much.

That headline/outline reveals a happy ending, so there’s no tension. No “what happens next?” The dark early part of the story is only hinted at. The happy resolution brings no real sense of relief or victory, because there’s no pain or danger to overcome.

Could this story grab your attention?

I can almost guarantee it could.

If the storyteller had a flair for drama. That means the storyteller would hunt for the drama in the story, and then emphasize it in the writing.

Drama is built from these story ingredients:

1. Conflict. In this case, conflict between Serena and cancer. It’s a struggle.
   
2. Tension. During the conflict, the outcome is not certain. It could go either way.
   
3. Humanity. Details about Serena -- her life, her expectations, what she has to say -- help reader connect with her and care more.
   
4. Change. All stories start someplace and end someplace else. Our story may start with Serena getting a cancer diagnosis. Then she goes through a battle. Then the good news finally comes.
   

A writer with a flair for drama will look for these things. They’ll probe by asking questions.

A lesser writer who just wants to get the situation down in writing will just outline the main facts and call it a day.

Which one is more interesting?

Which one will motivate more donors to give?

I think you know the answers!

Why do donors give?

It's not because your organization is superb (though that helps).

They give because they have a calling. And your organization is a tool for them to pursue that calling.

So says a great article in Nonprofit Pro: Every Human Being Has a Calling. Check it out:

... every human being on the face of the earth has a calling. Call it a voice or an inner drive or motivation; or call it a special purpose.... There is something that draws every human being to do something for others.

Recognizing this fact is really the foundation of successful fundraising.

It can lift you, the fundraiser, above the frustrating noise of tactical fundraising. It makes you a partner with your donors, not a huckster.

Remembering that your cause is a tool for your donor's calling makes you more respectful and more bold in your fundraising. It helps you to use the word you more often and to tell relevant stories about how the donor can make the world a better place. It helps you refrain from bragging and organizational-centered brand gunk that's aimed at insiders but has little meaning for donors.

(This post first appeared on April 4, 2018.)

Whatever happened to Stupid Nonprofit Ads?

It’s a long-running series on this blog with 49 posts, going all the way back to the beginning, in October 2009

But it’s been awhile since the last time. December 2019 to be exact. That’s pre-pandemic!

So is Stupid Nonprofit Ads over?

Maybe.

I don’t see Stupid Nonprofit Ads as often as I used to. I focus on a very specific form of stupid: High-concept, high production-value creative that is born from arrogance, nurtured by ignorance, and made possible by the insecure egos of nonprofit executives. (Also, it nearly always uses ineffective media, mainly magazine print ads and 30-second TV spots.)

I don’t know if I’m not seeing them because there really are fewer of them than there used to be. That would be good, but it seems unlikely.

It also might be that I’m just not finding them much any more. There used to be a couple of ad-industry blogs that showcased award-winning and other highly “creative” advertising -- exactly what Stupid Nonprofit Ads often are. Those blogs are gone.

But it might be I don’t see them because I’m less interested in them.

Get right down to it, weird ads by out-of-touch ad agencies aren’t really a big problem in the fundraising world. While they deserve to be pointed out and laughed at, they aren’t a threat for very many of us.

If you see a Stupid Nonprofit Ad, let me know. (To understand more what I mean, read What makes a Stupid Nonprofit Ad stupid?)

Or enjoy a visit to the Stupid Nonprofit Ads archives.

For most fundraisers, your donors are a lot older than you think. We’ll look at why this is so and what it means for you: How do you communicate with these people? About what? And in which channels?

Knowing hold old your donors are — and responding appropriately — is the key to success in fundraising. Knowledge is power!

From the archives of the now-defunct podcast Fundraising Is Beautiful. This episode first aired on April 20, 2016. Listen here:

(If you don't see the audio player below, click here to listen.)

Sigh. Next year is another presidential election year in the US.

All that noise, bluster, and distraction.

It’s tiring.

But is it bad for fundraising?

Analytical Ones isn’t worried. See the post Election Year Giving.

Let’s just go straight to the chart:

This shows September through December giving for a large and varied group of organizations for ten years, starting in 2013. There are two presidential election years in there (2016 and 2020 -- both contentious and noisy). Can you see those election years among the cluster of lines?

If those elections had lowered response, the yellow CY16 and the brown CY20 lines would be lower, right.

But they aren’t. We also can’t pick out midterm elections.

With one notable exception, every year raises more than the previous year. Election year or not.

The exception is that CY22 is lower than CT 20 and CY 21. You know what was going on in those years. There was an election year -- but more important, the pandemic. Note also that while CY 22 is lower than the previous two years, it's higher than all the years previous.

As the post points out:

... all this noise on LinkedIn about fundraising being broken or bad is simply untrue. If you take out the abnormal pandemic years, fundraising is working rather well, thank you very much.

So then, my recommendation for fall 2024 is: full speed ahead. Fundraising is working now. It will work during the next election year.

The thing most likely to hurt your results in 2024 is you freaking out about the election year, and cutting back on your year-end fundraising.

Don’t do that, and you’ll be fine.