Why your fundraising didn’t work

Doing a post-mortem on a failed direct-response fundraising campaign? Check this post at Karen Zapp’s Nonprofit Blog: Top 10 Reasons Why a Fundraising Campaign Flops.

1. Copy isn’t reader-centric
   
2. Poor list (you aren’t being smart about whom you’re asking)
   
3. Too many editors change the copy until it becomes a weak mush.
   
4. Single channel effort – didn’t integrate across multiple channels (online and offline)
   
5. Appeal is filled with business-like jargon; it’s cold and impersonal
   
6. No story
   
7. No clear call-to-action stated multiple times that obviously shows how the donor makes a difference
   
8. No single person, family or critter that the reader can connect with through their own experiences; text dominated by sweeping generalities and nebulous facts
   
9. No package gestalt
   
10. No reminder sent to boost response
    

Any one of these things can kill your campaign. The most deadly one is #2, which can demolish an effort that’s otherwise flawless.