Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I've been neglecting this blog over the last few months. At first, I simply had too much to do and too little time. Many things got pushed aside, including my blog.

The longer I stepped away, the more I realized I wanted to make some changes. They're in process, and when my reinvented blog comes back, it will be over at my website. I think you'll like the new format -- more fun, more information and more creative solutions for your writing and fundraising.

In the meantime, feel free to browse through old posts, ask me a question, visit the new blog home, or follow me on Twitter.

Case Study #1: The Importance of Urgency

It’s easy to get so caught up in doing the work of getting your direct mail out the door, that you forget to sit down – with your entire team, creative people, numbers people, even program people – and examine the results of your efforts.

 

As a creative consultant, I’ll take writing over numbers-crunching any day of the week. But I don’t let myself off the hook because I know that taking a close look at those numbers can give me critical feedback about the direct mail I write.

Welcome to Case Study #1: The Importance of Urgency

One of my smaller clients is a regional educational institution. They mail 5 appeals a year to an average audience of 17,000. Response is fair, with appeals netting an average of $7,000.

Some of the mailings, of course, are blockbusters, netting twice that amount, while others fall far short of the average. And generally, the whole team can anticipate how any given appeal will do by looking at how a theme historically performs, how the time of year affects giving, and a host of other smaller factors.

(This is where having a good numbers person on your team can be such an advantage. I can only ballpark, but a numbers guru can spin magical calculations that can provide you with invaluable information!)

A few weeks ago, we sat down and looked at the previous year’s appeal results. We were surprised to discover that while overall, the appeals had performed better than in previous years, one mailing in particular had performed 84% less than average.

I was shocked. The theme was a touching one, the letter was packed with vivid imagery, and the package included the donor directly (i.e./it had plenty of “you” and “your” statements). But upon re-reading the copy, and comparing it to the other packages we’d mailed last year, I realized there was one critical element missing: the urgency.

We were asking for an ongoing program, one that was scheduled six months out. Yes, it was a fantastic and moving initiative. And yes, it desperately needed funding. But there wasn’t an urgency to the need.

I took that lesson and applied it to the next appeal – which ended up being the best appeal of the year.

Actually, I guess there are two lessons here: the one about urgency, of course. And another about failure. Look closely at those mailings that fail. They could tell you something crucial about your audience and lead you, ultimately, to greater success.

How often do you look at numbers? What have you discovered? I'd love to hear below!

Mind Your Manners: Acknowledgements

Everybody talks about how important acknowledgements are. It seems to be generally understood that if someone is generous enough to give you a donation, the least you can do is thank them.

So why are so many organizations so bad at it?

I can’t tell you how many times a client has said to me, “But it’s so expensive to send a thank you letter for every gift!” Or even better, “But it’s so much work!”

I’m sorry, but I don’t accept that excuse from my 7-year-old, so I’m certainly not going to accept it from an organization I give money to.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you can’t afford NOT to send acknowledgements.

My old boss used to preach to all of her clients about the importance of including a reply envelope in acknowledgements, saying, “There’s no better time to get another gift from a donor than when they’re in the ‘rosy glow’ of having just given.”

But even if they don’t give again right away, your acknowledgement is a critical tool for future giving.

Done correctly, an acknowledgement does three things:

1. It thanks the donor for their support.
2. It tells the donor what that support has accomplished so far.
3. It tells the donor what their continued support can accomplish in the future.

Many of my current clients also put information about planned giving and sustainer programs into their acknowledgement letters, too. They’re great vehicles for getting the word out about other ways to give to the organization.

But however you thank them, make sure you do thank your donors. As Mal Warwick says, “If you run a responsive donor-acknowledgement program, you’ll gain a competitive advantage that will pay off in higher renewal rates and greater loyalty.”

And who doesn’t want higher renewal rates and greater loyalty?

Integrating Diverse Missions

Education and advocacy. A special event and ongoing programs. Activism and conservation.

I work with several organizations that have two or more central missions that attract diverse audiences. Sometimes that's just how an organization is set up from the beginning. But often it's part of a group's natural growth.

• Perhaps a museum hums along for a few years, then starts developing arts education outreach programs that lead to a big arts festival.
• Or a conservation-focused group that decides to more actively combat environmental degradation.
• Or a hard-hitting advocacy group decides that part of their mission should be education and outreach about their issue.

Diversification can be great for an organization, injecting life and verve into the atmosphere and giving people a new excitement about your mission. But it can be hard on your fundraising.

How do you sell an organization that does several different things?

It's not an easy question to answer. Sometimes, if the two missions of your organization are sufficiently different -- and have sufficiently large audiences for each one -- you may want to set up two separate fundraising entities.

For example, I work with an advocacy group that set up an education wing. Their advocacy is hard-hitting, often controversial. But their education arm, while set up to further their overall mission, deals with fewer hot-button issues. Their audiences do have some overlap, but many of the advocacy supporters are uninterested in the education mission and vice versa. So they set up two separate fundraising organizations and are now raising money for each mission.

But other times, the missions are too closely intertwined, or the audiences simply too small for each one, for them to stand on their own. So you've got to integrate your asks.

Say you're an arts organization that holds a high-profile, once-a-year event, but spends the rest of the year on arts advocacy and education. Most of your supporters have come in through your event. That's how they discovered you, what they know about you, and why they support you.

Your job, as an organization is to get them excited about all of the other things they're helping you accomplish. Sure, they help put on your One Exciting Event, and you should thank them (and remind them of the magic they help create). But they also make possible X program for struggling artists in the community and Y program to bring arts education into public schools.

Tell them what these programs mean for the people they benefit. Do kids' faces light up when they've created their own piece of art? Did an artist complete an important work thanks to your support? Tell these stories to your donors and to those people you want to have as donors.

Then, use your appeal program to separate out your asks. You'll find out which of your programs are the biggest draws, and which you need to sell harder. You'll find out which of your donors are passionate about education, and which want to support starving artists.

All of which will help your bottom-line fundraising.

Does your organization have a diverse set of missions? How do you incorporate everything into your fundraising? Is it successful, or are there areas you could improve? Post away in the comments section...

Momentum, shmomentum

It must be fall again. Because in our family, we've started passing around a cold. It's my turn, and sadly, I'm late enough in the game that absolutely no one has any sympathy!

Hopefully, you will have a tiny bit as I take yet another unanticipated break from blogging to clear my sinuses and rest.

In the meantime, take a look back through the archives, and if you have any questions...post 'em in the comment section, and I'll answer when I can breathe through my nose again.

Renewal Series: The Art

So far, I've talked a lot about Renewal copy in my series of posts about these critical mailings. But today, I want to take a moment to talk about the art.

Because now that you've gone to all that trouble to make your Renewal letters shine, are you going to shove them into the same old envelope and hope they get opened?

Of course not! You want to give those fabulous letters the best chance to shine that you can.

So here are a few tips on making your Renewal art effective:

The Envelopes. As with your letters, you want your Renewal series art to reflect the increasing urgency of the ask. Match your teasers to the letter copy. Change up stock colors -- nothing says "Open me right away!" like a yellow envelope in the mail.

Package Size. Many organizations send their Renewals in monarch-sized envelopes, mimicking the old-style monthly bills that people used to receive. Of course, now that more and more bills are being sent in #10s and other odd-sized envelopes, you might want to try changing up sizes.

Reply Forms. Make your reply form as easy to fill out as possible. Clump together all of the payment information and lead the donor through the choices you need them to make. And try to keep the options to a minimum -- the more decisions your donor has to make, the more likely you are to lose them.

Your Donor's Name. Your donor's name is probably the single most important thing that appears in any Direct Mail package, so make sure it's printed legibly and appears near the payment information. Our eyes are naturally drawn to our names, so if you keep the payment section near the name, your donor is more likely to see it...and act on it!

Thanks so much for checking out my Renewal Series. Please let me know if you have any questions. And come back next week for more thoughts on Direct Mail, fundraising and Communicating Your Conscience!

Renewal Series: The Architecture of the Series

In my earlier Renewal posts, I've talked a lot about how to write an individual Renewal letter -- how to make it compelling, what goes in and what stays out, and why it's so darn important to do them right. But the individual Renewal letter is just one part of an entire series.

It might be tempting to either send the same letter two or three times to your donors, hoping that one time the ask will sink in, or to take one basic letter and switch out examples of your work.

But while that might seem like an easy out, it's a mistake. You should look at your Renewal Series as a single entity -- one really long, drawn-out conversation with your donors about the importance of their donations. And it's critical that that conversation should be consciously directed by you.

Rules for your Renewal Series:

• Got stories? Now's the time to use them. If you can put a face to your mission -- a person you have helped, an animal you've saved, a family that benefitted from what you do -- your donors will flock back to you.
• Each letter should highlight the organization's needs for the coming year -- the things that your donors will be supporting with their Renewal donation -- but try to shake it up as you go. Don't rely on the same old boilerplate for each letter. Use your personal touches to describe your programs in a new way each time.
• Repetition is good to a point, but by the time you're sending the 6th effort, saying the same old thing is a waste of time, money and effort. Shake it up. Try a new approach. These people need to hear your message in a new way if you want them to renew.
• Don't forget the victories. If you've you've won a fight in the past year (with the help of your donors), don't forget to tell them. And thank them.
• Urgency is key, and should increase as the series goes on. In Direct Mail, one of the biggest challenges is getting people from the point of reading their mail, to the point of acting on what they've read. Making a case that their gift is needed NOW is a central part of motivating donors to take that extra step to reach for their checkbook.
• Acknowledge, acknowledge, acknowledge! Gratitude should be the central message of your entire series. Acknowledge their previous giving history. Acknowledge their generosity in supporting your organization when there are so many other organizations. Acknowledge that they're busy. Acknowledge that their gift may have crossed with your letter in the mail.
• BUT...a little guilt is good! Especially late in the series, it is OK to turn up the heat on your donors. Tell them how much you'd hate to lose them, how valued their support is. Remind them of all their donation makes them a part of -- what they'll be missing out on if they don't renew.

To think of it another way, as you craft your series, imagine each letter as the next step in a staircase. If the first effort is your baseline, each subsequent effort should step up the personal touches, the urgency, and the gratitude.

Tomorrow: Renewal Art tips.

And if you have questions, or feel like you want something covered more completely, please post it in the comments section!

Acquisition Week -- Urgency and Passion…and an Involvement Device Doesn’t Hurt

Thanks for coming back for the final installment in the Acquisition Series. So far, I've covered how to approach potential donors, how to craft your package, choosing your lead, and establishing your credibility.

Today, I want to talk about a few of the other techniques you can use to get people to give to your cause for the first time. As with special appeals to your donors, urgency and passion are key. It’s hard enough to get people to support a new cause. Throw in the multitude of distractions between your potential donor and his wallet, and you’ve got to provide strong motivation to get him to sit down right this second and make that initial gift.

Besides killer prose, there are a couple of ways you can provide that extra bit of motivation. Lots of organizations love freebies. Magnets, address labels, stickers you can use to guilt a donor into giving. Or you can entice them with promises of a free gift – a DVD produced by your organization, for example – after they join. They’re both great ways to raise your response.

One caveat: the gift you’re offering should relate to your mission. I hate it when environmental organizations offer calendars or notecards – even with beautiful pictures of nature on them – because of the wasted paper. Make it matter to your mission.

For activist organization, almost nothing beats a petition or a survey. People who are passionate about your cause – and if you’ve picked your lists right, they should be – love to make their voices heard. So give them that chance. Sure, you might get back a bunch of signed petitions or completed surveys with no money…but guess who your best prospects are next time around?

And maybe the single most important way to craft a winning Acquisition Package: TESTING.

Don't toss all of these techniques into one package and hope they work. Create different versions and mail them against each other. See what brings you the best results. Test, test, and test again.

I hope you'v found the Acquisition series helpful. Please post any questions in the comments, and I'll be sure to answer them!

Acquisition Week -- The facts to back up your claims

Yesterday, I wrote about what it takes to write a blockbuster lead for your Acquisition letter. But that’s just the first step in creating a winning package. You’ve got your potential donor on the hook…now you have to reel him in.

Unlike your loyal donors, a potential donor isn’t going to take your word for it that you have the solution. He’s not going to let you get away with just getting him riled up. He wants facts.

Consider an acquisition letter like a job interview. You need to prove that you have the experience, the know-how and the demonstrated track record to get the job done.

• Tell him about your past victories, including who you were up against and how you managed to win the day.
• Got partners? Offices abroad or friends in high places? List them. Knowing you have allies gives a potential donor the reassurance that you really can do what you say you’re going to do.
• If you have testimonials, use them. Quotes from people you’ve helped count for more than your own claims.

A potential donor also wants to see that you have a thorough and well-rounded understanding of the problem you’re trying to solve. Can you quantify your work? Do you have hard statistics to back up your claims? If you’re an organization worth your salt, you have this information at your fingertips – make sure you share it with potential donors.

The best Prospecting letter will excite and inform.

Tomorrow, I’ll give you a few other essential tools…so don’t forget to check back!

Acquisition Week -- A Blockbuster Lead

When you’re mailing a Prospecting (or Acquisition) letter, you’re going after people who aren’t your donors, who may or may not know the first thing about your organization, the work you do, your track record and your value.

Your Prospecting Package needs to tell them all of those things and convince them you are a safe bet for their donation dollars. Which means your Prospecting letter needs to grab the reader by the shirtfront right away. Drop them into the middle of the action – explain the problem in the most immediate way you can…and then tell them you have the solution.

You can do this with a big, bold headline that sums up the purpose of your current campaign, like a recent package I received from NRDC that had this screamer across the top of the letter: POLAR BEAR SOS!

I like a Johnson Box (that copy above “Dear Friend,”) that paints a picture of the problem the organization is trying to address and what they’re doing to solve it – all in vivid, let’s-storm-the-castle-NOW language.

Personal, emotional moving stories about people or animals who’ve been helped by your organization are great motivational leads – nothing beats a testimonial for moving a potential donor to take that leap into actual donor.

Activist organizations can give people a chance to get involved. Ask your potential donor to share his or her opinions on your issue, or ask them for help petitioning political leaders. Let them know – right up front – that the action they take today will make a difference.

As you’re planning your mailing, sit down and think about which of these techniques might work best for your organization…then try to write it up in a way that grabs the donor and doesn’t let go.

Tomorrow: You’ve got your blockbuster lead…what’s next?

The Acquisition Series Continues!

I had too much to say about Acquisition to confine myself to just one week, so here we go on Week #2 of my Acquisition Series. Last week, I talked about how Prospecting is different from your other mailings and how to choose between an issue-based theme and a more institutional-based package.

This week, I want to talk about the things that go into your Prospecting Letter, the tricks you can use to make people jump out of their chairs and reach for their wallets.

• A Blockbuster Lead (Or, Grab a Potential Donor's Attention and Not Let Go)
• Making Sure to Back Up Your Claims with Facts
• Selling Your Organization (Remember Your Passion and Urgency)
• Other Tricks of the Trade

I'll address a new topic each day, so keep checking back.

Acquisition Series - Issue vs. Institutional

There’s no question that the BP Oil Spill is one of the biggest environmental disasters in history, and it seems like every day, the news gets worse. And bad news for the world can be great news for nonprofit organizations.

When people see a disaster unfolding, they want to help. The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti this past year spawned hundreds of millions of dollars of charitable giving from all over the world.

So, should you go with a package that talks about your organization as a whole (the Institutional approach), or send out a package specifically addressing the bad news du jour?

The short answer is: It Depends.

First, you need to know what your goal is with your acquisition mailing. Are you looking to get a lot of new supporters fast? Or do you want to go for quality long-term supporters?

A hot issue might bring in a lot of new donors, but you run the risk that it's a one-time gift. You'll need to plan to mail a lot so you can continually replenish those people who drop out once the Bad News they came in on has been resolved or fades out of public consciousness.

But if a donor buys into your mission as a whole, she's going to stick around for the long haul, rewarding you with annual income and even special appeal gifts.

After you look at your goals, you should also take a few moments to consider these questions:

• Is your organization taking specific action in relation to the Bad News?
• What is your organization’s role in the post-Bad News landscape?
• Does solving the problem created by the Bad News fit into your organizational mission long-term?
• Is the situation generated by the Bad News a long-term problem that will require your expertise for years to come?

If you can’t shout a big ol’ “YES” to all of those questions, then it’s probably a waste of your precious resources to mail an acquisition letter devoted entirely to the Bad News. Your resources are better spent sending an Institutional package.

Does that mean you can’t address the Bad News? Absolutely not! Especially if an issue is as large-scale as the Oil Spill, you have to talk about it, if only to mention that your hearts are with those suffering.

But when you're trying to acquire new donors, you want to sell them on who you are and what you do. Stay true to your passion, and your identity, and you'll have donors who stay true to you.

The Acquisition Series – These Aren’t Your Donors, Folks

I had intended for this week to be Acquisition Week, chock full of handy tips, dos and don'ts, and answers to common questions all about the art of acquiring new donors in direct mail. But somehow I woke up and it was Wednesday already! (How does this happen?) The upshot: Acquisition Week is going to straddle a couple of weeks...and I might even toss in a couple of extra tidbits along the way.

First things first: Prospecting is hard. And expensive. And scary. You're tossing a huge amount of money out the door, knowing you won't recoup that investment for around 18 months. You may have to scramble to convince your board that it's worth it. And then you have to figure out how to craft your message and develop a winning package. Whew!

So let's break it down.

Why's it so hard?

The toughest thing about creating a strong Prospecting package? You’re mailing to people who aren’t your donors.

The people who support you are already vested in your mission. They got your mail, stumbled across your website, heard about you from a friend or a news report, and said, “Yes! That’s an organization I can get behind!”

When you’re talking to people who already think you're great, you don’t have to work so hard to convince them that you’re worthy of their support. Sure, you want to remind them of all the reasons they chose to give to you in the first place (in their Renewal letters) or convince them to give a little extra to a Special Appeal, but you don’t have to sell them on your organization. You’re free to riff on your work.

But when you’re trying to capture the attention of someone new, you have to convince them – from the get-go – that you’re worthy of their time and their money.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you how you can write a blockbuster lead for an acquisition package. And if you have questions, post them in the comments below.

BONUS: Check out this new resource for Prospect researchers for more information about how to choose your prospects, engage with other professionals and learn new trends.

Appeal Week -- It's the Little Things

Now that you've chosen your theme and found your lead, you're halfway to writing a blockbuster special appeal. There are just a few more things to think about before you're ready to mail:

Urgency

A sense of urgency is key to a strong appeal letter. Think about it: you're mailing your donor a special letter, asking them for a gift in addition to their annual obligation. You need a good reason to send that letter (your strong theme) and you need a reason to send it NOW.

Deadlines are excellent. Try something like "We need $XX by August 31st in order to make this happen. Please respond as quickly as possible!"

Light a fire under your donors, and they're more likely to give.

A Track Record

Even your most loyal donors want some reassurance that you can deliver on what you promise in your mail. Have you solved this kind of problem before? Remind them! Do you have ties to other groups or government agencies that will help you in this work? List them!

Don't be afraid to let them know, again and again, that you are worth their support.

Asks

This is one of the biggest hurdles for some organizations, but it's the single most important thing you can put in your appeal letter. Ask, and ask often.

If you don't ask, your donors won't give. So don't be shy. Ask up front for money. Tell them why you need it and what you'll use it for. Ask again in the middle of the letter. Ask at the end. And, for good measure, shove a final ask in the P.S.

Thanks

Please don't forget to thank your donors. Thank them for reading, thank them for being loyal donors, thank them for all the things you've been able to do with their past support. And thank them in advance for the gift they're about to make. Because if they feel appreciated, they're much more likely to give.

And on that note, thank you for reading. Any questions about appeals? Post them below, and I'll try to answer in the coming weeks.

Appeal Week -- Crafting Your Lead

Now that you’ve chosen your theme, it’s time to think about how to craft a dynamite lead. It's one of the hardest things to do when you're writing anything, but in a fundraising letter, the lead can make or break the entire campaign.

I took a fiction writing class from writer Karen Karbo about ten years ago, and one thing really stuck with me. We were all working on fiction that we had started in the class, and after about three meetings of workshopping the pieces, she said something along the lines of (sorry for not having the exact quote, but it has been a decade), "You know, I always find that the beginning I start with usually needs to go somewhere in the middle. And somewhere in the middle of my first draft, I find my beginning."

That's how I approach most of my fundraising letters. Sure, sometimes the lead will just jump up and wave its hand in the air and shout "Pick Me! Pick Me!" But most of the time, you find it buried somewhere in the middle.

It's a tiny nugget of outrage...a moving personal story...a terrifyingly urgent problem...all couched in the most emotional language you can muster.

Get that problem right up front and show -- don't tell! -- why it's so urgent that we solve it. Spin a story about someone whose life was changed because of the issue you're trying to address...demand action from legislators...paint a picture of what will happen if nothing changes...hit your donors right in the gut.

I know, I know, nobody likes that whole "the sky is falling!" approach. But. It. Works.

When donors are moved, they give you money. And while you might feel more comfortable leading with something that's a little more informational, a little less sensational, the point is to stir donors up, ignite their passion for your work. Because a passionate donor is a donor who gives to your special appeals.

Special Appeal Week -- Choosing Your Theme

Welcome to Special Appeal Week, a series of posts on writing dynamic, money-raising, and compelling special appeal letters.

A core part of any direct mail fundraising program is the Special Appeal – those asks the organization sends in between acquiring a donor and renewing her. They’re usually issue-specific and hard-hitting, rather than the more general Acquisition and Renewal asks.

So when I sit down to work on a Special Appeal letter, the first question I usually ask is, What's the money for?

It's sometimes a harder question to answer than you'd think, particularly in terms of direct mail. I often hear answers like, "Well...we need to travel to Washington, D.C." or "We want to put a cool thing on the Web that talks about our issue."

And while these may be worthwhile endeavors and absolutely critical to your cause, they're not going to make anybody fork over their hard-earned cash. You want to open wallets? Choose a good theme.

The theme is the foundation of your mailing campaign, the reason for sending the letter. And while putting good information on the Web and sending advocates to D.C. may be a part of that, you need a really exciting and important idea around which to rally your supporters first.

Campaigns are fantastic way to do it. Say you want to fund some research into new medicines to fight obesity. Great. Let's call it The Campaign to End Obesity and include four or five concrete actions you're going to take to accomplish this lofty-sounding goal. They can be things you're doing already -- education, advocacy, research funding, outreach -- but put them under a Campaign umbrella, and you sound like a mover-and-shaker with a real strategy.

I work with a lot of activist organizations, and that’s another fantastic appeal angle. What kind of advocacy work is your organization doing? Build your appeal around a Petition or a Declaration of Support, and your donors will feel like they’re helping you out in an even bigger way.

And don't forget the incredible opportunity appeals give you to alert your donors to what's going on in the organization. Give them the information, as much information as you can throw at them in four pages.

Appeals are all about getting your donors to give more than just their yearly gift. And so you have to promise them something a bit more, as well.

A Bike Crash and Mid-Year Reflections

I had big plans for this week. But then a gal opened her car door into the bike lane, just as I was biking by.

I'm fine -- a little bruised and sore. I got back on my bike this morning and had a very uneventful ride to the office. But I've fallen behind on some of my goals for the week.

The experience has provided a good lesson for me. I have to remember what most people already know: I need to take a break now and then.

Sometimes, life forces us to take a few deep breaths, be thankful for what we have -- even for that giant purple bruise running down my right arm, since it could have been so, so much worse -- and take a minute or three to reassess.

And that's not bad advice for nonprofits, either. Midway through the year, is it time for you to take a step back and reassess your programmatic and fundraising goals? What have you accomplished so far? Are you on track, or are there areas you could improve? Have local, national or world events shaped your progress?

I'm going to put my feet up, take some Advil and consider my own achievements and goals. I'll be back next week, hopefully, healed, refreshed and brimming with new ideas.

Are You Authentic -- Part 3

So I've talked about understanding your own organizational identity and knowing your audience. Today, I want to talk about the 3rd peg in keeping a nonprofit organization authentic:

Keeping It Real

Your donors have a perception of your organization. If you've done your job right, it's probably pretty close to who you really are.

And because these people are your donors, that perception is one they like. When you reinforce that, they keep coming back for more. So take some time to examine how your donors perceive you.

Do they see your organization as hard-hitting advocates? Policy trendsetters? Caring professionals? Whatever those qualities are, your donors want to see them in every communication you send.

Earlier in the week, I quoted writer and author platform guru Christina Katz about brand vs. identity. Here's another bit of wisdom from her: "Your authenticity makes you memorable and your ability to accept and embrace and share your best attributes makes you magnetic."

When you know your identity, know your audience, and keep those two bits of knowledge in the forefront as you do your work, you're keeping it real. And when you do that, you'll continue to be successful, drawing more like-minded donors, and retaining the ones you already have.

Are You Authentic -- Part 2

Earlier this week, I talked about how crucial it is to know your organizational identity. If you don't know who you are as an organization, how are you going to convince people that you're worth giving to?

But just as important is Knowing Your Audience.

One of my clients has a picture taped above his desk. It's about the size of a school photo, but it's of a woman in her sixties, her smiling face framed by a halo of curly white hair. He calls her Velma.

Velma is the person he writes to. Every sentence he types on his computer is aimed at Velma. He's though up a whole biography for Velma, and he knows what motivates her to give to his organization.

There are lots of ways to uncover tidbits about your audience. Focus groups, surveys, five-question online polls, and other tools can tell you what issues they say the care most about. (Although often people will say they care about one issue, while actually giving to other issues, so it's critical to examine actual giving histories if you want to know the truth.) Analyze your file, and you can discover the average age, income level and education level of your donors. This is handy information, of course.

But when you approach your donors to ask them for money, are you really going to say, "I know most of you care about Our Very Important Issue and earn an average of $80,000/year, so won't you please donate to our Very Important Cause?"

Nope. (I hope not!) Instead, you take that information and use it to find your Velma. Who is she? What does she expect from you, and what motivates her to give? What stories can you tell her to bond her even further with your organization?

Next up: Keeping It Real.

Are You Authentic?

One of the things I love about direct mail is that, when it's done right, it can take all those meetings and reports and outreach that you do each and every day and make it all personal. The donors reading your direct mail -- or, really, any marketing or fundraising copy you write -- should be able to feel the conviction, passion and tireless effort behind what you do and get a sense of your organization's personality.

And while there are a host of reasons that fundraising copy can fail, you don't ever want it to be because it wasn't personal.

This week, I'm going to run a series of posts about how to make your copy personal. First up:

Know Your Identity

"Brands are dead. But identities are alive...and so much more interesting." Writer and author platform guru Christina Katz sent this Tweet a few weeks ago, and it caught my eye because I think it resonates for nonprofits.

Your brand is what you're "selling," what you promise to your donor in return for their support.

Your identity is the soul and vision of your organization, what you hope to achieve, now and into the future.

Of course you want your brand to be solid because that's a huge part of what's going to attract donors to you in the first place. But your identity is going to keep them coming back. So you need to make sure you know what that identity is.

Are you a scrappy band of rabble-rousers? Or a firmly established group making changes from the inside? You may be tempted to straddle the line or try to be all things to your donors, but if you want your identity to be authentic -- and you do -- you have to make a choice about who you are as an organization. And then stick to it in all your copy.

Once you figure out who YOU are, it's time to take a closer look at who your DONORS are. So come back tomorrow for a post about Knowing Your Audience.