Future Fundraising Now

Author: Jeff Brooks

  • You owe your donors passion

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    Jeff Brooks
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    Passion is exciting. It can help you accomplish the “impossible.” Most of us would rather be passionate and be connected with passionate people and organizations. It’s the same with most donors. They want to be connected with passion. Sadly, passion can be hard to find. Especially among nonprofits that choose to be generic, cautious, bureaucratic…

  • Is “newsletter” the most dangerous word in fundraising?

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    Jeff Brooks
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    Maybe you’ve seen this happen: You decide to create a donor newsletter. Smart move. If you create a piece that tells stories about the difference donors make by giving, you will tighten your connection with donors. And that will mean improved donor retention. It’s a dependable step. But sometimes, something goes wrong that derails the…

  • Fundraising “freemiums”: do the math, not the anecdotes

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    Jeff Brooks
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    What’s wrong with nonprofits, that they keep giving away stupid stuff like address labels? Don’t they know that everybody hates that stuff, so it’s a dumb waste of money! That’s the message in a recent article on Vox: Why nonprofits give away so much crap. It’s interesting, but almost 100% useless. Because the article contains…

  • AI tools can ruin a lot more than your fundraising

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    Jeff Brooks
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    Last week, I talked about the threat bad use of AI tools poses for your fundraising. There’s a bigger threat. For you personally, and maybe even to human culture itself: AI saves us from the agony of thinking. And thinking — the kind that’s difficult, agonizing, with no success guaranteed — that’s where most human…

  • 6 negative thoughts that can destroy your fundraising

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    Jeff Brooks
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    When I wrote my first book (The Fundraiser’s Guide to Irresistible Communications) the first official step was to send three sample chapters to the editor. The few days between sending the chapters and hearing back were some of the worst I’ve experienced. I was sure he was going to hate those chapters. And my writing.…

  • What AI might mean for consultants and freelancers

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    Jeff Brooks
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    I wrote a large (and, we hoped, financially pivotal) project for a client. There were going to be a lot of eyes on my work. We knew that. It would include uninformed board members and people from departments not normally involved in (or held accountable for) fundraising. It was going to be a challenge. Then…

  • Top 5 blog posts of the month

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

  • How to use jargon the right way in fundraising

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    Jeff Brooks
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    Excerpt from How to Turn Your Words into Money: The Master Fundraiser’s Guide to Persuasive Writing Everyone tells you to avoid jargon. That’s good advice, usually. But not always in fundraising. The right kind of jargon, used in the right way, can make you more believable and persuasive. It can connect you more closely with…

  • How AI could wreck the future of fundraising

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    Jeff Brooks
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    I’ve written elsewhere about a moment early in my career that marked a turning point. Let me paraphrase: My mentor at the time was looking at some fundraising copy I’d written. He was clearly frustrated. Then he said the words that turned out to be the magic words: The mistake you keep making is you…

  • How to write when your mind is scattered

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    Jeff Brooks
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    It happens to everyone who writes: Times when we can’t focus. When no matter how hard we try, are head stays filled with too many thoughts. Most of them not that useful. It makes real thinking hard. It makes quality writing almost impossible. Here are some great tips for getting through those inevitable times, from…