Guest Bloggers
The Carrier’s Curse: Questioning, Testing, and Why Everything Plain Is Exciting Again
Raise your hand if you’ve been here: you’re mailing a package with a heartwarming case for support, copy that hits all your marks in two pages or less, all in a gorgeous, full bleed, four-color carrier. The package is great, the message is strong, and your lists are ready to go. You’re so proud of…
Read MoreMiddle donors and the White House
Are your middle donors suffering from middle child syndrome? Do they feel excluded, ignored, overshadowed by the over-indulged major donors and the high volume, attention-stealing low dollar donors? Organizations are starting to shine the spotlight on middle donors, and rightly so. The reality is middle donors account for less than 2% of all donors in…
Read MoreReaching donors when you don’t have an “Aunt Bertha”
I had the pleasure of attending the DMAW Annual Meeting and hearing from keynote speaker Nancy Harhut about how to hack the brains of donors, members, and other humans. It was fascinating! Nancy shared a story about where her interest in fundraising began – at age eight when, incentivized by a banana-seat bike prize, she…
Read MoreA mail donor and a digital donor walked into a bar…
If your first reaction to the title above is, “I don’t get it, is that a joke?”, then you likely were not among fortunate, dedicated marketers, who braved the region’s first snow dusting of the season to attend this month’s DMAW Lunch and Learn, “Digital First: Why Translating DM Content Just Won’t Cut It!” While…
Read MoreKey Takeaways – National Association of Charitable Gift Planners 2018 Conference
Last month, I attended the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners Conference in Las Vegas. This is the premier national gift planning conference, with three days packed with presentations on all aspects of planned giving. I’ve been happy to see an increasing number of panels and discussions focused on marketing – the main driver for…
Read MoreOnline Fundraising Best Practices for Nonprofits
Best Practices and Bold Innovations: Recapping the Best of Bridge Lunch and Learn If you missed out on the 2018 Bridge Conference like me, I hope you made a point to attend DMAW’s Best of Bridge Lunch and Learn on October 18th! At this Lunch and Learn, one of the most popular sessions from this…
Read MoreGain & Sustain: Tips for Long-term Growth and Success in Nonprofit Monthly Giving Programs
DMAW Sustainer Day, September 2018, was an opportunity to listen to experts from some of the most respected and relevant nonprofits in the U.S., including ALSAC/St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Humane Society of the United States, and The Nature Conservancy, answer questions and share success stories about monthly giving programs. The day was fast-paced, fun…
Read MoreBuilding a Zipper to the Moon
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find group brainstorming sessions a bit intimidating. I mean, the creative team is there. And they always have the best ideas, right? And yet, here I was, attending a session on brainstorming, led by two top-tier creatives, Prudence Bovee and Steve Fleshman. The tables were set for…
Read MoreApplying Digital Tactics to Membership Organizations and Components
With a lengthy to-do list and planning for our large annual governance conference, the thought of missing a full day of work is quite daunting. But the time spent at the DMAW Digital Day Forum was so worthwhile! To my pleasure, I was able to immediately start applying some of the digital tips and tricks…
Read MoreWe entered muggles. We left magicians.
I think it was Dumbledore who once said, “Magic is best taught in the morning.” In truth, I’m not sure he said this. But morning was the perfect time for DMAW to host “Mid-level Magic”—taught by marketing masters Lisa Maska, CFRE and Jillian Leslie of Lautman Maska Neill & Company. Lisa and Jillian opened this…
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