more john bethel tips

For those long time readers, you’ll recall that I’ve done John Bethel Tips posts before – here… I don’t really give John an option, I just copy his tweets as he posts them and then publish it as one larger post! So thanks John for these great times and giving me an easy post… If you [...]

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This is boring

Ive heard it more than I would like to admit but I’ve had clients tell me my design is boring. “We are paying for 4 colours why aren’t we using them?” “Why can’t you cram more photographs in?” “Can you add more fonts?” “This looks pretty plain…” I’ve wrote before about being appropriate. Did you know that the more design [...]

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Pop quiz, hotshot…

What starts with “s”, ends with “n” and can immediately improve your fundraising results and your donor/prospect/community engagement? Nope, it’s not seclusion. Or seduction, secretion, sexualisation, sanitization, sentimentialization, septuagenarian or sesquipedalian. Gold star for anyone who got it. Segmentation. Seriously – I’m starting to wonder whether some charities think the $70,000 database whirring away in the corner of [...]

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Add some positive value

For those of you who follow me or Agents of Good on twitter, you may have noticed an increase in frustration with people who don’t add positive value to our daily working lives. And, strangely enough, those who seem to add the most negative value, seem to be the most popular. And that’s fine. Anyone [...]

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Direct Mail Tips from @johnbethel

One (just one of many!) cool things about twitter is following people who provide constant inspiration to the work we do every day. Inspiration can come in many forms of course but when it arrives in bits of useful tips – well – it can be priceless. I’ve been following John Bethel for some time now [...]

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Your Fundraising Trifecta!

What’s not to love about a match package? If you don’t know what I’m talking about you are missing a classic in your direct marketing program. As traditional as grandmother’s pearls, yes. But you can make it modern and effective with a few simple twists. So what’s a match package? Simple. You tell your donors that every [...]

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5 Direct Mail Tips

#1: I’m not actually sure that this is the first time I’ve published a tip about direct mail – but it IS the first time I used a video to do it… This is a quick video showing how you need to think about what you are mailing your donors from the very get go. #2: [...]

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The Eyes Have it

I have to thank the folks over at The Agitator for the inspiration for this post. Jerry Huntsinger did a guest post about the use of eyecontact and online pages. For years, as a direct mailer and print designer, I’ve known the value of good eye contact. You can see I even utilized it on my [...]

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7 surprising facts about direct-response fundraising

This falls into the “Passing along great information” category. From the September 5th, Donor Power Blog posting: 7 surprising facts about direct-response fundraising: 1. Blank carrier envelopes usually out-perform envelopes with teasers. 2. Longer letters perform better. Usually. There are exceptions. 3. The most-read part of a fundraising letter is the P.S. 4. Typos improve response. I can’t prove this, but [...]

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Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3…

I know, you probably hear it all the time but I don’t see charities trying it enough anymore. I know money is tight but you should constantly be testing something to see what your donors respond to and what they don’t respond to. Testing is most common with direct mail but take a cue from the [...]

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