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The Thing About Premiums – Part I

The Thing About Premiums – Part I What is it about premiums that seems to create such angst and disdain? I’ve seen articles that compare direct mail premiums to crack, that say they are ruining the relationship between non-profits and their donors, basically using unethical practices to trick or coerce donors out of their money.…

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Unsure about fundraising in 2022? This data will help.

Unsure about fundraising in 2022? This data will help. Wouldn’t it be great if you could predict the future? Nostradamus gets lots of credit for this, but let’s be real: He simply made vague, cryptic guesses that were later attributed to major events like World War II and the moon landing. Predicting the future, or…

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Just because it couldn’t be done before doesn’t mean it can’t be done now

Just because it couldn’t be done before doesn’t mean it can’t be done now Problems of the past have a way of coming back to haunt those in the future. Thankfully, sometimes the future also brings about solutions that didn’t exist before. Several years ago, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) agreed to accept Fidelity…

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Are you ready to take a Sustainer-Forward approach?

Are you ready to take a Sustainer-Forward approach? First, I’d love to give a huge shout-out to the DMAW as an organization that has had a Sustainer-Forward approach for years. The DMAW has offered special sustainer tracks during the Bridge conference, sustainer pre-Bridge workshops, then Sustainer Day, Sustainer World and now Sustainer Week, coming up…

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Delight Your Donors with Handcrafted Direct Mail

Delight Your Donors with Handcrafted Direct Mail When visiting my local McDonald’s I noticed their Café drink menu and decided to order an espresso drink. Americano was my choice and upon placing my order I was met with a confused look from behind the counter. The cashier wasn’t sure they could make that, so I…

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Why Designing Direct Mail for Fundraising is Different

Why Designing Direct Mail for Fundraising is Different A Designers Take When you think about graphic designers, you probably picture one of those “creative” types — colorful and slightly different. But, being a designer is more than just “being creative.” It’s really about problem solving. A graphic designer analyzes the situation, and makes decisions about…

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Who wants $8 Trillion Dollars?

Who wants $8 Trillion Dollars? I honestly can’t think of a nonprofit organization in the world that would say no to that question. But the sad truth is, many organizations are still forgoing significant revenue because of their failure to invest in marketing planned gifts. An estimated $8 trillion is expected to pass to charities…

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The Election is Over, Now What?

The Election is Over, Now What? In theory, a webinar held 2 weeks after election day on learnings from this cycle, should have delivered the “over” in terms of the final result. Unfortunately, this was not to be. While all the votes were cast, the counting continued and even now the efforts to change the…

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The Digital Fundraiser’s Blind Spot

The Digital Fundraiser’s Blind Spot You may not realize it, but you and I have blind spots. And I don’t mean metaphorically (at least not yet), I mean your eyes literally have areas where they can not see. Most of the time, our blind spots are unrecognizable—but they are very real—and I am about to…

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DM 201: Stop Getting Comfortable and Start Innovating

DM 201 is an intermediate-level course that’s perfect for anyone who already has some direct marketing experience under their belt—whether at an agency, nonprofit, list broker, production company, or analytics firm—and wants to go beyond the basics. Somewhere between being a total newbie and seasoned vet things start to fall into place. We get comfortable…

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