By Alan Sharpe, CFREIf your charity wants to retain the services of a direct mail fundraising firm to conduct your next mailing, answer these questions before you pick up the phone. You’ll save yourself a lot of time, and give the firm everything they need to give you an accurate quote. [Read more...]

By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
One of the quickest ways to learn the craft of direct mail fundraising is to donate money to your strongest competitors. Pick the Top 10 organizations you admire and mail them a donation of at least $20. Then watch your mailbox. What you’ll get is a correspondence course in raising money with paper and postage. [Read more...]

By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
The secret to raising funds with direct mail appeal letters is not found in what you say or in how you say it but in why you say it.

Success is found not in technique but in truth. The truth of your case for support. That’s why, before you write a word of your fundraising letter you must state your case for why a donor should support you. I am not talking about a “case for need.” In donor-centered fundraising there is no such bird. Your needs are immaterial. What’s important to your donors is why they should support you. Their needs come first, not your’s. [Read more...]

By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
If your donor has the choice of reading your fundraising letter or reading the latest issue of Reader’s Digest, which one will she read?

This is not a trick question. The competition for your donor’s attention has never been greater. If you want your donors and members to read your fundraising letters from start to finish, learn a few lessons from the editors at Reader’s Digest, the largest-selling magazine in the world. [Read more...]