Posts Tagged ‘Tom Ahern’

It’s the perfect time for Tom Ahern’s “Making Money with Donor Newsletters”

Screen Shot 2016-04-07 at 12.43.11 PMThere’s never been a better time to enter our Get Smarter Give Away book drawing herunterladen.

Donor acquisition costs are at an all-time-high and retention rates are at an all-time-low. Author Tom Ahern has written Making Money with Donor Newsletters: The How-To Guide to Extraordinary Results and now you can apply every chapter that is chock full of illustrations and guidance typo3 dateiliste herunterladen.

Tom Ahern is a leading authority on donor communications and reveals many secrets behind highly successful newsletters, including the “Domain Formula” that has help countless charities with a guaranteed method for raising funds video from zdf mediathek mac.

Chapter titles include “How to make news out of thin air,” “How to create a donor-centered newsletter without a budget or designer” and “How to lower the grade level of your writing (and why you need to).”

How to enter arte sendungen downloaden? Simply email us info@causeplanet.org and put Tom Ahern in the subject line. That’s it.

Congratulations to Andrea who won our drawing last month for a free copy of Fundraising Habits of Supremely Successful Boards house party herunterladen pc!

See some of our CausePlanet book summaries related to this title:

How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money

How to Turn Your Words into Money: The Master Fundraiser’s Guide to Persuasive Writing

Seeing Through A Donor’s Eyes

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Battle of the appeal letters: Four-pager versus two-pager

If I’ve heard this one once, I’ve heard it a thousand times…

Dear Tom:

My boss wants to know which is better, a four-page letter or a two-page letter hintergrundbilder kostenlos herunterladen herbst?

Signed, Direct Mail Novice.

This is one of those great “it all depends” questions.

First, you need to distinguish between acquisition letters and renewal letters toxfox app herunterladen. Which are you sending out?

Four-page letters, I would venture to say, are not all that common when you’re renewing gifts from current donors hoe fortnite. But they are common for acquiring new donors, especially when professional writers are running the show and there’s a lot at stake youtube videos mit iphone downloaden. It’s pretty axiomatic in the direct mail industry that a four-page letter will outpull a two-page letter, when you’re trying to acquire new donors red dead redemption 2 herunterladen. For this simple reason: a four-pager gives you four times as much space to fill with interesting stuff as a one-pager.

Current donors already know who you are, thanks to your newsletters and other “relationship- building” communications herunterladen. Assuming you’ve done a good job keeping your current donors informed of your cause’s accomplishments and needs, a brief appeal letter should work films downloaden disney+.

But people who don’t know you at all (those whom you’re trying to acquire as donors) need a lot more convincing to take the plunge herunterladen.

For the average person (a boss who hasn’t read up on direct mail fundraising, say), the idea that a four-page letter often gets a better response than a one-pager is painfully counterintuitive stata download for free. The average person thinks, “Four pages? That’s crazy. I wouldn’t read one. It’s far too long and a big waste of my time.”

This is the place for a caveat: true enough, a four-page letter filled with uninteresting stuff and tedious writing will not work google chrome windows 7. But professionally written four-pagers are marvelous experiences, filled with drama, human interest, surprises, and hope.

People do not read direct mail in the way one might read a novel or news story. With direct mail, they skim. And if your mission and organization is new to them, they will skim your letter to see if you have anything to say that interests them.

Which, incidentally, puts a high premium making things easy to read. Use lots of bullet lists, short paragraphs, etc. Successful direct mail writers favor one- and two-sentence paragraphs for that reason: because people can speed through them.

Do four-pagers always work better in acquisition mode? Nothing always works in direct mail. It’s an empirical medium. You test, test, test. And on some rare occasions, a one-page acquisition letter ends up outpulling a four-pager. Rarely, but it does happen.

This is a brief answer to a complex question. For those who want to learn about direct mail letter writing from a real expert, I highly recommend Mal Warwick’s How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters. Good direct mail fundraising is a sophisticated form of advertising; it is only superficially similar to ordinary correspondence. The more training you have, the more effective you’ll be.

See also:

How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money

Seeing Through a Donor’s Eyes

Content Marketing for Nonprofits

Image credit: GettyImages, pfa.blog.com

This was originally cross-posted at CausePlanet on 4/26/2011 with special thanks to Tom Ahern.

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The message is trust: how to build loyalty with your donors

This post first appeared in Tom Ahern’s newsletter, Ahern Communications Ink free mouse pointer.

Donors have no idea what you do with their money. And frankly? They suspect the worst!!! How loyal is the average donor? Not very, it seems teamspeak 3 32 bit for free. “In many large national programs fueled by direct mail,” Mal Warwick observed in 2005, “no more than 25-35% of newly acquired donors ever give so much as a second gift.” And that was then videos youtube as mp3. These numbers never go up; they always get worse. A 2012 report from the Direct Marketing Association found that response rates to direct mail had dropped “nearly 25%”over the past nine years herunterladen. It’s relatively easy to get a first gift. It’s consistently hard to get a second gift, especially during a worldwide economic downturn that leaves everyone feeling poorer firefox klar für android herunterladen.

There’s more bad news.

“Public confidence in charitable organizations … continues to stagnate and shows no signs of recovering [from a 2001 decline], according to the Brookings Institution,” the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in September 2004 wordpad spell checkfor free. Only 11% of Americans thought charities did a “very good” job of spending money, said Brookings. The other 89% had their doubts. In fact, more than one-quarter of Americans in 2004 believed charities were inept at managing money, according to the report microsoft teams desktop app herunterladen. And that was before the Great Recession made everyone grumpy. As I said, these numbers never get better.

Be aware: charities are guilty until proven innocent minecraft herunterladenen. Part of the problem is the name, I suppose. We call ourselves “nonprofits.” And what does that label say subliminally to the lay person? That we really don’t care about money kostenlose bildbearbeitung herunterladen.

UK researchers once asked donors to guess, “What percentage of your gift does your favorite charity spend on its fundraising activities, rather than on programs?” Prepare yourself herunterladen. Donors–yes, donors–believed that most of their gift–fully 65%–never went into the field. It was instead plowed back into fundraising and related overhead, leaving only a small share–a mere 35%–for changing the world. And yet they still gave. Imagine how much more they might have given had they only known the truth.

Prime messaging opportunity

Of course you’re protesting: “That’s so unfair! We pour almost everything we’re given directly into programs. We spend as little as possible on fundraising.” You know that. I know that. But your donors don’t know that. You have to remind them of your organization’s dedication to transparency, accountability, and financial health frequently on your website, in your direct mail, in your face-to-face solicitations and in every issue of your newsletter.

Go ahead, check right now. I’ll wait.

Bruce Campbell, a pioneering researcher into donor attitudes and behavior, found that “information regarding how finances are used” was among donors’ top concerns. They wonder: “Did you spend my money on paper clips and business lunches? Or did you really use my gift to change the world?” Don’t leave your donors guessing on this point. They will guess wrong…and not in your favor. One real reason renewal rates, retention rates and long-term loyalty stubbornly remain so abysmally low is because donor skepticism has been left to fester.

What an opportunity….

How you can win

I teach that “the charities with the best ‘thank-you’s’ win.” But it’s the same with trust: the charities that establish amongst their donors a strong sense of trustworthiness will win in the long run.

See also:

Seeing Through A Donor’s Eyes

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Are your donors the solution or on the sidelines?

According to author, consultant and nonprofit leader, Jerold Panas, the case for support “is the mother ship of all other material.” It is the basis for annual giving, planned giving, corporate giving and foundation gifts hof bergmann ls19en. If you are fundraising at all, your organization must have a case for support.

In his book, Seeing Through a Donor’s Eyes, Ahern says, “A case consolidates your messages for common reference by staff and board, putting every potential voice, writer and advocate on the same page.”

Who is responsible youtube filmsen op ipad? Sometimes the internal process of creating a source document from which your organization bases all of their fundraising strategies can derail how external-centric or donor-centric your case is gratis downloaden app store. Ahern challenges you to answer the question, “Have you put your donor in the position of responsibility?” Donors want this role.

Is your donor the solution? Ahern dedicates a chapter to donor-centricity and treating your donor as the solution. When telling your story, it’s important to shift responsibility and the credit for achieving your vision. You’re taking that vision off your shoulders and placing it onto the donors’ where it belongs. Do not treat donors as if they are merely kind, generous bystanders, says Ahern. Make it abundantly clear that you cannot achieve your mission without a tremendous amount of donor support.

Invite your donors to a fight. Before you can treat the donor as a solution, you need to demonstrate a problem. Ahern calls this, “inviting your donors to a fight.” He also cites a New York Times article in 2008 by Yale economics professor, Dean Karlan, who discussed why small donors contribute money to political campaigns. He explained that while big donors buy access and influence with their large gifts, a smaller donor has other motivations. For example, a $25 gift to the Barack Obama presidential campaign was about participating in a fight.
Ahern agrees wholeheartedly with Karlan’s argument and adds that donors have a desire to “mix it up, to get into a fight that we think matters, and to win.”

Ask the author for yourself. Join a lively CausePlanet interview with Tom Ahern and find out:

• What three essential questions you must answer in your case
• Why you need to “get stupid,” and
• How to write for “browsers” when creating your appeals

When? Friday, March 16 at 10:30 a.m. CST

How do I register? CausePlanet subscribers can visit the home page and log-in here for the registration link on the Subscribers’ ‘Announcements’ page.

See also:

Seeing Through a Donor’s Eyes by Tom Ahern at Emerson & Church Publishers
Page to Practice™ summary
of Seeing Through a Donor’s Eyes by Tom Ahern
More Page to Practice book summaries about communications at CausePlanet

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Don’t let your nonprofit suffer from “non-essential-itis”

“What if we disappeared tonight?” is a great question for all nonprofits to ask themselves fotos aus dropbox herunterladen iphone. The answers to this question help organizations who may suffer from “non-essential-it is,” says author Tom Ahern. He adds this is not a make-work exercise; this is a core exercise to discover your organization’s true importance and impact herunterladen.
Tom Ahern’s latest book, “Seeing Through A Donor’s Eyes” will have you answering important questions about your case for support so you don’t find yourself fumbling for words with donors in the ask or having brain cramp when writing appeals herunterladen.

“The mere act of writing a case helps you—forces you, really—to deeply investigate your organization’s impact on the world, so you can successfully explain that impact to donors and prospects,” says Ahern sky view kostenlos downloaden. A case consolidates your messages for common reference by staff and board, putting every potential voice, writer and advocate on the same page, Ahern adds musik youtube herunterladen gratis.

The best way to engage your reader in your case for support is to tell a good story. Here are a few of Ahern’s good storytelling tips:

Take your prospect on a verbal tour free farming simulator games to download. Tell your prospects how your organization sounds, smells and feels. “Hear the sounds of rushing rubber-soled shoes? Nurses here probably jog ten miles every shift…”
Make sure you’re using a donor-centric lens swisscom assistant. Which sounds better? “Baby Joseph, one of over 15,000 rescued babies,” or, “Baby Joseph, one of over 15,000 babies rescued by your gifts”?
Make your case bigger than you musik herunterladen ohne app. If you can, make your project or campaign more expansive and worthy than the organization itself.
Put the cherry on top skype downloaden voor pc. Ahern says our job as writers is to entertain first and inform second.
Put your case in a nutshell elterngeldantrag downloaden. Show the campaign’s bottom line at a glance. Consider three main points and financial goals that support the overall campaign goal and portray them with a powerful visual.
Don’t forget the call to action! You actually need to ask your donors for support in the case. Be specific about what you need.

For a more comprehensive look at creating a compelling case for your organization, subscribe to download this Page to Practice summary and others in our summary library or visit www.EmersonandChurch.com for Ahern’s essential communications advice so you can enhance your fundraising results.  You can also learn more about Ahern’s award-winning consulting services and subscribe to his newsletter at www.aherncomm.com.

See also:

More Page to Practice summaries that relate to communications

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Prepare to be browsed

I laughed out loud when I read this passage: “Here’s the unvarnished truth: people do not want to read your stuff download the sims for free for handy. Sure, they want to understand your stuff and absorb your stuff. But spend long stretches of time reading it? Not particularly. In our bustling world, if I understand your vision in 15 rather than 30 minutes, that’s a good thing treiber aus windows update herunterladen. If I understand your vision in five minutes rather than 15, that’s even better. And if you could slip me a pill and I’d understand your vision instantly, that would be the best.”

Finally, someone had the courage to say it gta 5 kostenlos downloaden. Tom Ahern, the author of Seeing Through A Donor’s Eyes, is responsible for this passage and is currently featured at CausePlanet alle videos herunterladen. This book is a must read for anyone who raises money, works with someone who raises money or manages someone who raises money. Ahern is a three-time winner of the prestigious International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill awards, given each year to the best communications work worldwide wind music notes for free. Beloved international trainer and highly successful consultant, his firm specializes in capital campaign statements, nonprofit communications audits, direct mail and donor newsletters windows 7 service pack 1 32 bit free.

So how do you get your direct mail, newsletters and proposals read? Having a good “browser level” delivers the pill form of your case, says Ahern german league of legends for free. “A well-written browsing level explains your message as quickly as humanly possible with deep penetrating power,” he adds. Studies show the human eye gravitates toward graphically distinctive elements before anything else—bigger type, bolder type and pictures instagram private videos herunterladen. In other words, focus on headlines, subheads, captions, pull quotes, bullet lists, sidebars, photos, charts and other art. Your section headlines should become your story’s structure herunterladen.

If you engage in any form of fundraising for your organization, you must read this book. According to the author, if you can persuasively answer and close on this essential question, “Why should I give you my money now,” you probably don’t need this book free videos for whatsapp. But if you’re like most of us and you find yourself fumbling for answers, this book will definitely help you. If you haven’t written a general case for support recently, the author argues you really don’t know why you’re raising money. Writing a case forces you to think about your organization’s promise, your organization’s proof and how the donor fits into your world.

Mark your calendar for Friday, March 16 at 10:30 a.m. CST when we’ll interview Tom Ahern about other brave and true claims about nonprofit communications. Watch for registration details in our regular Content Highlights newsletter. Not registered for our newsletter? Visit the left panel of any page on our site and click on the blue button, “Put us in your inbox.”

See also:

Seeing Through A Donor’s Eyes
How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money
www.aherncomm.com
to visit Tom Ahern’s site
www.emersonandchurch.com to purchase the book

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Playing to lose

What happens when know-nothings are allowed to outvote the fundraiser? A sure-fire recipe for failure.

I blinked. Yet the dreaded words didn’t change.

“The internal team,” the email stated, “has some concerns about the direct mail you wrote. We need to talk.”

The internal team? Here we go again, said the frustrated little general in my brain.

Fact: I know the résumés of this particular “internal team.” I know that no one on this “internal team” has any training in direct mail win 10 update. Not one iota. Which makes their opinions, ipso facto, professionally worthless.

Untrained staff and board cannot accurately judge professionally-crafted direct mail. It’s impossible. Mailed appeals are a counter-intuitive enterprise, based on neuroscience, decades of testing, empiricism, and acquired skill sets of surprising depth and complexity.

The opinions of the untutored simply do NOT count in direct mail. Quite the opposite: acting on untutored opinions can only decrease or eliminate income musik bei samsung herunterladen. Direct mail is a sales medium that brutally punishes presumptions. You either know what you’re doing. Or you don’t. And direct mail virgins guess wrong 110% of the time.

That doesn’t mean an untrained internal review team is powerless. On the contrary: their silly, ignorant opinions can easily – often do – destroy any chance that a direct mail appeal will succeed. Makeshift, unfounded opinions (“We can’t have a P.S. on our appeal. It’s undignified.” True story.) cost charities untold fortunes in unraised gifts around the world film von facebook downloaden. I see it all the time.

I’m talking to you, Mr. Boss. I’m talking to you, Ms. Board Chair. And I’m talking to you, carping colleague.

Personally, I insist on the Verbatim Rule. New clients looking for a direct mail writer must promise me that they will send out what I create without changing one word.

It’s the only sane policy.

And that’s also why I strongly advise that development directors have sole and tyrannical control over all donor communications kostenlose bewerbungsvorlagen zumen.

No colleague veto. No boss veto. No board-chair veto. Again, it’s the only sane policy.

Let me repeat: ONLY the chief fundraiser gets to approve donor communications … appeals, newsletters, and thanks. Period. No exceptions.

In a sane world.

…. And then there’s real life ….

Remember the “internal team”?

They had three “concerns” with my direct mail appeal.

First, the boss was concerned that the letter didn’t sound like him schriftart raleway herunterladen. So he was reluctant to sign it. “Could it be,” he ventured, “written to sound more like me?”

If you think that this is a reasonable request, then you need to revisit a good how-to book like Mal Warwick’s How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters or Jeff Brooks’ groundbreaking new book on direct mail writing from Emerson & Church.

Direct mail doesn’t “sound like” people.

For one thing, the machinery of persuasion is always grinding away in the background of a direct mail appeal. A competent writer is focused on inserting all sorts of emotional triggers that can lead to “yes.”

Also, there are loads of technical demands that must be met, for the appeal to raise the most it can: multiple asks on every page, for instance; and huge infusions of donor love samsung fernseher disney plus herunterladen.

People don’t talk this way. So, no, Mr. Boss, it cannot “sound like you.” This is not ventriloquism. A direct mail appeal is not your hand puppet.

Second, the VP in charge of this client’s education reform effort – which was the subject of this particular appeal – was concerned about the tone.

He didn’t like the heavy use of the word “you” in the appeal. He wanted the charity’s PR consultants to rewrite the letter … in a proper, elevated corporate tone: “We did this great thing ade herunterladen. We did that great thing.” Impersonal.

See, this is what I mean. This knucklehead’s presumption about tone has been wrong since the beginning of fundraising – yet, he doesn’t even suspect that truth.

Not only are people like this ignorant, because they don’t know the subject at hand (how to properly talk to prospects and donors). People like this are also stupid, because they don’t know that they don’t know.

And they’re not just cute and annoying herunterladen. They are toxins. If they were suddenly gifted with self-awareness, they’d fire themselves for incompetence. Instead, they congratulate themselves for sagacity.

Finally, the new hire in production spoke up. He was concerned that the letter was too long. To lend weight to his opinion, he claimed to have direct mail experience.

Working for the Good Lord’s House of Failure, I guess.

This ninny offered to take all my one-sentence paragraphs and bullet lists and everything else that made the letter easy to skim … and pack it all down into tight, dense paragraphs, so the letter would fit on one page rather than two tiptoi herunterladen ohne manager.

“And we’ll save money on printing!”

I’ll be blunt: what an idiot. And he’s the new hire, so get used to it.

This is a big charity. It presents itself to its donors as a major change agent, a home for innovation and smarts.

And yet the “internal team has concerns.”

Talking about change in the cozy, self-congratulatory world of staff meetings – and actually welcoming the sometimes horrifying unknowns of change – are very different enterprises. One of my favorite fundraising analysts, Jonathan Grapsas, has some wise words on change inside nonprofits dj musik player kostenlosen.

See also:

How to Write Fundraising Materials that Raise More Money

Seeing Through a Donor’s Eyes

Image credit: StevenAHill.com

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Your prospect has four sets of ears: Are you speaking to them?

This month we are featuring Tom Ahern’s recent book, How to Write Fundraising Materials that Raise More Money (Emerson & Church, 2011) keso schliessplan herunterladen.

Despite our lack of Tom Ahern’s vast communications credentials, we find ourselves fully entrenched in writing tasks. No matter how you communicate, whether you are a social media fan or a champion of direct mail, your understanding of effective donor communications will be essential to nonprofit success playstation 4 spieleen.

While it’s widely accepted that no two readers are alike, we continue writing to them as if they are. Your donors are not target markets or segments; they are people with different motivations for giving to your nonprofit lebenslauf download kostenlos open office. No matter how well-intentioned your messages are, the reality is that you are still an intrusion. So we must raise the bar in writing donor-centric messages to inspire action.

Donors have special interests, and here’s a short list of what they care deeply about, according to Ahern: your accomplishments (What did you do with my money?), your vision (If I choose to give you more money, what amazing things could you do with it?), recognition (Are donors like me vital to your work?), and your efficiency (Can I trust you with my money?). Of these four interests, the most important will be your accomplishments. In other words, your donors want to back a winner. One caveat: leave room for improvement and link the accomplishments with need.

Donor-OPTIONAL language is: “We did this. We did that. We were amazing. Oh, by the way, thanks.” Donor-CENTRIC language is: “With your help, all these amazing things happened. And without your help, they wouldn’t have.” Further donor-centric language means you are appealing to all four sets of the prospect’s ears.

  1. One set is the AMIABLE side that responds to people and seeks community, sharing emotions and responding to one another. Ahern encourages you to “glow with humanity and heart and attract the amiable side of your audience.”
  2. Another set is the EXPRESSIVE side that responds to anything new and says, “Tell me something I don’t know!” They burn for the new. They crave the new. They are addicted to the new, the urgent, the different, the unique and the only. “Radiate news value and urgency,” says the author.
  3. The third set is the SKEPTICAL side and is wary from the start or cautious by nature. The courts say, “innocent until proven guilty,” but the skeptical ear says the opposite. Ahern tells us to “anticipate and answer the predictable objections … and allay the doubts that eat at the skeptical side of your audience.”
  4. Your final set of ears only wants to know what to do next. These BOTTOM-LINERS want us to make it obvious, make it convenient, and go, go, go. “Never forget to tell people exactly what you wish they’d do next … so the bottom-liner side of your audience can easily respond to your appeals,” says Tom.

A portion of this blog post was excerpted from a Page to Practice book summary at CausePlanet.org. For more information about Tom Ahern’s book and more expert advice, visit www.aherncomm.com.

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Don’t “blandify” your message, be bold

I read a blog post today called “Why Steve Jobs and I Hate Charity” by one of our featured authors, Joe Waters, who has generated a lot of mixed responses with this post, some even angry. I can’t help but be happy for him. Call me crazy, but this month I have author Tom Ahern backing me up on this one. We’re currently featuring his new book, How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money (Emerson & Church Publishing, 2011) at CausePlanet musik herunterladen kostenlos mac.

“Content that interests your reader is mandatory,” says Ahern. He says we should ask if our message is bold and passionate. (Not bland, predictable or boring.) I would say Joe Water’s post meets these requirements on all counts herunterladen.

One of Tom Ahern’s chapters in particular had me jumping out of my seat because it’s so rarely discussed, much less overcome in the workplace. The chapter is called “On the delicate subject of committee and board approvals.” Tom’s remarks in this chapter further support the priority we must all put on preserving communications that are bold, controversial and surprising wwe supercard download required content not possible. Tom argues that your board and committee’s instincts and good intentions aren’t enough. Effective communications are, in Ahern’s opinion, 99 percent science and one percent art. You are a professional. You’ve done the research and understand what makes communications effective. Committees tend to “blandify” the piece and scrub away the bold, the controversial and the crazy surprises you’ve worked hard to incorporate into your piece, says Ahern herunterladen.

I was so enthusiastic about this opinion after having survived numerous direct mail pieces written by committee over the years that I asked more about the subject in our interview and here’s what Tom had to say:

CausePlanet: We love chapter eight about how to mitigate the influence of committee or board approval on the written appeal. How liberating! Would you say the same rules apply for management?

Tom Ahern: There are two kinds of bosses: those who trust their employees and those who don’t microsoft word download for free for pc. The trusting boss says to the fundraiser, “Look, this is your area of expertise. And it’s your neck on the line. Do what you think is best.” If that’s not your kind of boss, start looking for a new job.

Tom explains his book that there are seven ways you can guarantee poor results herunterladen. I would argue that number seven needs to added as I’ve done below. Then again, he did dedicate an entire chapter to the subject.

  1. You don’t target your audience narrowly enough: You must sharpen your message by grouping your constituency by donors (at least two gifts), prospects (shown some interest or lapsed donors) and suspects (might yield a gift but show no proof yet of interest). The second layer of grouping is segmentation by demographics (age, sex, income, educational level, number of children or zip code) and psychographics or “lifestyle traits” (values, beliefs, attitudes and interests) dateien vom ftp server downloaden.
  2. You don’t know what your BIG message is: Choose one message for each target audience and beat that message to death for a few years. That’s how you get results, says Ahern.
  3. You don’t repeat your messages often enough: Marketers cite the “rule of seven,” which means you must bring the same message to a target audience at least seven times in an 18-month period in order for that message to penetrate herunterladen.
  4. You don’t have real goals: Every goal should be concrete, measurable, achievable and worth doing.
  5. You think “bland” is a safe choice: You have to be BOLD to capture a person’s attention in today’s hyperactive messaging environment spiele herunterladen für laptop. Bold always outsells bland.
  6. You have unreasonable expectations: You hope for blockbusters. Instead, have patience with the slow trickle of interest. It will soon amount to a river of support, says Ahern.
  7. You use a committee and board approval process: Your board or committee’s instincts and good intentions aren’t enough herunterladen. Effective fundraising communications are, in Ahern’s opinion, 99 percent science and one percent art. Professionals on staff have done the research and understand what makes a communications piece effective. Committees tend to feed each other’s doubts; they “blandify” the piece and scrub away the bold, the controversial and the crazy surprises you’ve worked hard to incorporate. (See # 5.)

Thanks, Joe, for the great post and keep your readers guessing. You have us in your court. Visit www.SelfishGiving.com.

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