Iain Bernhoft
Who shows up more in your fundraising copy, you or your donor? Here’s how to check your pronouns.
It often seems like foundations want boring proposals. But remember: a proposal is a story masquerading as a spreadsheet.
Foundation officers are coy—and busy. Here’s how to craft a successful LOI to capture their attention in the brief time that you have.
Why is it so hard to effectively communicate my point? Perhaps because you know too much. Here’s how to step back and strengthen your donor communications.
Localism is attractive today—but that’s often localism as a form of consumerism. True localism is demanding.
We’re all biting our nails thinking about the election. Don’t forget to be in touch with your donors.
Impersonal donor communication is harming nonprofit success and growth. On the latest Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy Beer and Gabe Cooper discuss how nonprofits can be more “responsive” to donor interests—and make their work more interesting in the meantime.
One thing we can learn from the coronavirus crisis is the importance of local initiative to manage even major problems. Centralization leads to “fragility” which does not respond well to disruption, whereas smaller, decentralized initiatives tend to be “antifragile”—more nimble in the case of volatility.
It is essential to use stories to cultivate donors, raise money, and strengthen your organizations. Here are tips on the details and tone you should employ in your writing.
Successful organizations tell their story in a way makes it a story about their donors, too. Here’s how to help your donors identify with your story.