AMAZON RUNS THE SAME AD ALL SEASON LONG. 🌲

Yet, you feel guilty about mailing your year-end appeal twice. We gotta re-think this one.

You're doing your donors a favor. They've invested in you before. WHY would they stop now?

It's a dog fight at year-end to get attention. That's fine. You've got to play the game well to do the most good. I mention incredible people & resources in this video.

Steven Screen: this man's voice echoes in my head whenever I sit down to write an appeal... or when I chat with you. Rough paraphrase: "The ONLY good news in your appeal should be that your DONOR'S GIFT will solve the problem."

Veritus Group: they have incredible content on major donor strategy. I like to mention major donors when possible, since 88% of your funding comes from your top 12%. (By the way, DO NOT pull your majors out of ALL your direct response comms.) They discuss the importance of EMOTION in your major donor approach. It's not all about data. https://lnkd.in/e-W2YgnF

DonorVoice & Kevin Schulman: amazing articles on donor behavior and psychology. Search their blog for key words when you want to level up your appeals by personalizing based on donor characteristics. The two articles I mention are linked here: https://lnkd.in/ei7BpvUs and https://lnkd.in/eRXmBQjn

John Lepp: Go buy his book. It's your new Bible of direct response.

I carry Lepp's book with me everywhere because I have no time to read-read. I'm currently reading a few pages at a time in bed. ...Along with Gabor Mate's new book. ..And usually a chapter in Psalm. ...And doing 10 minutes non-sleep deep rest. I need all the ZEN I can get at year-end! 🆘 hashtag#fundraising hashtag#directresponse hashtag#copywriting hashtag#yearendgiving