Future Fundraising Now

Things no donor said, ever

—

by

Jeff Brooks
in


  • “This modern, edgy design really makes me think positively about this charity!”
  • “I don’t feel educated enough about this cause to donate to it. Please give me more facts.”
  • “Your logo isn’t big enough!”
  • “Tell me again about how visionary your founder is.”
  • “Please give me information about what it is you don’t do.”
  • “This message is not consistent with the charity’s brand guidelines. No way am I going to donate!”
  • “Puns! Wordplay! Finally! Now I’m on board with this cause!”
  • “Would you please tell me more about your wonderful wealthy donors who give far more than I ever could?”
  • “That reading level is too low! You insult my intelligence! I will never donate again! I spit on your mother’s grave!”
  • “Please — more acronyms. I hate it when you spell things out.”
  • “I get a warm feeling when you complain about how hard it is to raise funds.”
  • “Noted.”
  • “Wow! That’s like my third impression from your campaign this month! Bravo!”
  • “Every time I see another photo of your well-heeled donors and board members all dressed up and drinking champagne at parties, I feel more disposed to donate.”
  • “Your jargon really impresses me.”

    Comments

    4 responses to “Things no donor said, ever”

    1. Rosemary Conte Avatar
      Rosemary Conte

      Mary, what I like so much about your posts is that they are short yet full of good sense…thus pithy…NOT pitchy! I’m amazed at the things you come up with. You really know your stuff! Thank you!
      Rosemary

    2. Rosemary Conte Avatar
      Rosemary Conte

      Mary, what I like so much about your posts is that they are short yet full of good sense…thus pithy…NOT pitchy! I’m amazed at the things you come up with. You really know your stuff! Thank you!
      Rosemary

    3. Gayle Stowers Avatar
      Gayle Stowers

      So true! We work with a marketing company on a part time basis and sometimes we get way too preoccupied with the details that don’t have the right (or any) impact…

    4. Gayle Stowers Avatar
      Gayle Stowers

      So true! We work with a marketing company on a part time basis and sometimes we get way too preoccupied with the details that don’t have the right (or any) impact…

    Leave a Reply

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

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    Jeff BrooksJeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 35 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com. More.

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

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    About the blogger

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