Well, hello there, friend! (And a special welcome to the new subscribers from Martha's Vineyard Nonprofit Collaborative whom we had the pleasure of training earlier this week!) This is the 131st Fundraising Writing Newsletter. If you find value here, please tell a fundraising friend. (Your fundraising friend can ​subscribe here for free.)​

In this issue:

✅ 📬 Direct Mail + digital (like finding a puppy in your letterbox)

✅ Are you ready for the Great Wealth Transfer? Do you want more bequests? This training is for you.

✅ Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Hi Reader,

Okay, actually, Brett and I are at our lifetime dog quota.

We've had pups click-clacking across our floors and snoozing in our beds since 1995. Our dear Daisy doodle is now nearly 15 and destined to be the last of the great 4-legged Coopers.

Here's me with puppy Daisy in 2009.

But what if we found a puppy in our mailbox?

No.

Stop it.

(Also, do not mail puppies.)

The point is, the above GIF of a puppy in a letterbox is a favorite of mine because it always bonks me in the awww bone — and it makes me think of the difference between mere digital fundraising and...

📬 Direct Mail + digital (like finding a puppy in your letterbox)

Digital alone can be great for acquisition.

For retention? Not so much.

• We need direct mail to drive donations and retention.
• Then again, we want to save money and time by receiving gifts online.

What to do?

DM + digital, that's what.

When you combine direct mail with your donation page URL, QR codes, and messaging around this — mercy — it's like a puppy in your letterbox. Hard to turn down.

Let me show you two ways you can give your appeals that "puppy power" by harnessing the synergy of DM + digital.

(You'll want to know how to create QR codes for this.)

Make it easy for donors to give online when they read your direct mail fundraising materials.

Put your donation page URL and QR code in a few places in your direct mail pack.
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Here are some placement options and examples for you:

✅ on your reply form:

✅ in the PS of your direct mail appeal letter:

✅ in an ask in your direct mail newsletter:

✅ on your response envelope:

✅ on the back side of your outer (carrier) envelope:

Hint that giving online is the better, faster option.

In your direct mail appeals, we recommend you "nudge" your donors to give online.

You want them to have options, yes. Some donors will want to send in a check. That's good. But you'd probably prefer they go to your website to make a donation.

Here is some language you can use or adapt:

👉 Put your generosity to work even faster at...

👉 Fast-track your gift by giving online at…

👉 Rush your gift to work even faster at…

👉 Speed up your impact by giving online now at…

Easy.

Done.

Now wait for your results to go through the WOOF!

Are you ready for the Great Wealth Transfer? Do you want more bequests? This training is for you.

A message from Tom Ahern:

THURSDAY, May 16, 2024 ... "In a decade, we banked $78 million in charitable bequests..." TRUE story from a mid-sized nonprofit. You'll learn about it in this master-webinar. You're not mid-sized? You'll also learn how to attract far more bequests by spending one day a year on the task.
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​Has your charity ever seen one of these?​
​
BELOW: an actual bequest to a trusted nonprofit....

​Yes, it's real ... a gleeful charity shared this image with me back in 2020. They'd set up a proper bequest pipeline a few years earlier. Now that pipeline routinely produces major final gifts from true believers.
​
​PS: NOT an isolated case.​
​
Would your nonprofit like a similar and reliable STREAM of charitable bequests?
​
I'm guessing your answer is "Just tell me how, Tom!"
​
Well ... I WILL tell you how. But you'll have to invest some of your time ... and a bit of your money: $129 to be exact.
​
The title of this comprehensive master-webinar?
​How to Market Bequests:
The Delicate (tho Highly Lucrative) Art
of Asking for that Final Gift​
​
IF you join the crowd (and, yes, it already is an eager crowd) at our master-webinar on Thursday, May 16, 2024 (you'll receive 1.5 hours of training + unlimited Q&A with host Tom Ahern, moderator Julie Cooper, and celebrated guest expert Ligia Peña) ... you'll leave knowing exactly what YOUR nonprofit NEEDS to do, to set up an unrelenting charitable-bequest pipeline. (PS: It's SO easy.)
​
You will absorb world-sourced, true-expert, best-practice advice re: how to market bequests. This treasury of advice might well change your charity's goals and expectations forever. (And, no, that's not an overstatement.)

​Join us? Please do. You won't regret it!

Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you

For your brain, heart, and funny bone...

• Fundraisingly Informative — The Grow Report: "AI is taking over the world but..." by Pamela Grow (a newsletter about the dangers of relying too much on AI for your donor comms and on the importance of leaning into human)
  ​
• Wisely Popping — 101 Additional Advices by Kevin Kelly (a blog post with rereadable kernels of wisdom such as "Try to define yourself by what you love and embrace, rather than what you hate and refuse" and "You can become the world’s best in something primarily by caring more about it than anyone else".)
  ​
• Gorgeously Transformational — Your job isn't just a job via Eve Akinyi Aboka (a LinkedIn video showing people at a hair salon in Trinidad being served by a man named Anthony who cares so much about his clients that they shed tears of joy when they see the final reveal)​

Until next time: May you help your donors find more puppies in their letterboxes, doggone it!

Grateful,

PS: When you are ready, we're happy to chat with you about how we might be able to help you with your donor communications — e.g., planning, writing, advising, reviewing, designing, training. Reply to this email or book a no-pressure call with me here.