My Fall Mailbox

Like many of you, my mailbox is stuffed with nonprofit appeals between October 1st and December 31st. Here is a recap of the direct mail I received this year, and the insights I noted: • I received an even 50 pieces of direct mail. Thirty-five pieces were appeals from...

A Fall of Concern

Here we are again in the midst of the big fundraising season. As I type, nonprofit organizations’ direct mail packages are landing in our mailboxes – with dances of response rates dancing in their heads. This is always an anxiety filled time. Usually, election cycles...

Net Dollars Not Donors Part 1

Somewhere over the rainbow in fundraising, two metrics were established as the gold standard: gross revenue generated and the number of donors acquired. And that’s a shame. It’s a shame because you can optimize these two metrics into organization ruin....

Dual Channel/Schmual Channel

Google the term “dual channel donors” and you will get a plethora of websites stating the virtues of cultivating donors via multiple channels. Some of this information is all myth. We’ve recently done several analyses on dual channel donors, and here’s what we found:...