| Dear Ohdeuk,
My best-selling book, How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters, will be reissued next month in a revised and expanded new edition, complete with a CD-ROM chock full of examples . . . and my publisher, Jossey-Bass, has agreed to make a special, pre-publication offer.
If you place your order for the second edition no later than March 1st, you'll be among the very first to receive your copy—and you'll pay 20% off the price! Click here to take advantage of this one-time-only offer.
With more than 40,000 copies sold, many of them tattered by repeated use over the years since the book was originally published in 1994, a new edition made good sense to me. I added new chapters on monthly giving and legacy giving, as well as an in-depth chapter on writing online.
Cheers,
mal
1. Fundraising in tough times
How a recession can undermine your fundraising program—and what you can do to combat it
By Mal Warwick and Dan Doyle
We know what you want.
You've been hearing scary talk about a recession that may or may not already be underway. You want to know what impact this economic bogeyman could have on your fundraising program, right?
Fair enough. Let's get started. . .
 read more
2. Ask the Guru!
Have a fundraising question that calls for expert advice? "Ask the Guru" at the London-based Resource Alliance. Just click here—and bookmark the link for future reference.
The Resource Alliance has recruited some of the wisest and most experienced fundraising experts in the world. Each is serving for a month, answering all comers. Questions are posted anonymously on the Ask the Guru page, along with the answers. The Q&As by previous Gurus (including yours truly) are worth a look.
—M.W
3. Acquisition best practices
By Peter Schoewe
There’s been a lot of talk lately about declining response to new-donor acquisition mailings. In these challenging times, it’s more important than ever to make sure you're following the best practices in acquiring new donors—while thinking creatively about how to improve your results. Of course, the lists you use in your acquisition mailings are of the first importance—and will make or break your program. But you should also take a cold, hard look at your creative, offer, and Ask—and make sure you have the right mix to inspire people who know nothing about you to help you in your cause. . .
read more
4. Testing!
If you've had much experience with direct mail testing, you know it's unusual to observe a statistically valid difference in a head-to-head test—of just about anything against anything else in a legitimate comparison. However, there are a few types of tests that, more often than most, lead to meaningful results. Initial Ask amount tests are one of those. . .
read more
5. Finding the right letter signer
By Managing Editor Deborah Block and Paul Karps
Recently, we took part in a conference call to discuss an organization’s upcoming acquisition package. Participants on the call covered the bases, including the appeal’s Marketing Concept, components, offer, tone, and graphic look.
We also discussed who would sign the letter. Because in some instances, who signs your letter can be a critical factor in its effectiveness. But in others, this can actually be a non-issue. It simply doesn’t matter one way or the other. . . .
read more
6. Ask Mal
Since 1994, when the Mal Warwick Associates Web site went online, Editor Mal Warwick has answered fundraising questions posed by visitors to the site. Hundreds of those Q&As are available here. In this feature, we'll spotlight one Q&A from the most recent month.
Question: We just mailed (about 10 days ago) about 2,500 requests to join our Patrons Circle—gifts of $2,500 or more. A selection is personalized by board members or our director, the rest not. It's a pretty good list. We've gotten about a dozen responses. Is there any literature out there about the best way to do telephone follow-up?
Mal answers
7. Crisis communications
By Jerr Boschee
What do you do when the dreaded moment arrives?
How do you react when an employee is arrested? When reduced funding causes layoffs? When changes in the market force you to shut down beloved programs?
In other words, how do you handle bad news—especially the kind that goes public and shakes stakeholder confidence?
see answer
8. Involvement
Every once in a while some commercial marketer drops something so intriguing into my mailbox that I can't resist passing along the word. The latest example of direct marketing innovation that's come my way is from AT&T. Presumably, this is the "new AT&T," not the old one—the monopoly, that was never known for marketing of any sort.
For starters, the package comes in a translucent oversized envelope. Components include a sheet of blank white paper imprinted only with the salutation "Dear AT&T:", a #10 Business Reply Envelope, and a stiffer sheet of the same translucent vellum with a block of copy in white, reversed out on a blue background. That copy (in tiny sans serif type) reads in part as follows:
Now it's your turn. Visit att.com/DearAT&T and tell us what you would like to see on att.com/onwardSmallBiz. Or write to us and drop the postage-paid envelope in the mail today. Either way, we want to hear from you in order to better deliver your world.
The contents of this unusual customer-involvement package are pictured here.
—M.W.
9. When plain is beautiful
By Managing Editor Deborah Block and Paul Karps
We admit it. Searching through an overflowing box of direct mail packages to find the ideal candidate for the next What's Working isn't always as much fun as it sounds.
Believe us, sometimes it's just plain hard work! (Okay, it's not like digging ditches, but you get the idea.)
You see, we don't want to highlight the same excellent examples by the same excellent mailers issue after issue. What's more, it's often tough to find something fresh and interesting that also serves as smart, effective direct mail.
That's why, when dipping into the box of mainly smooth white outers, it was hard not to miss the rough textured 6 x 9" plain brown envelope, which we gladly pulled out for closer perusal.
But looks aren't everything. . .
read more
10. Happiness?
Leave it to the folks at the Toronto Globe & Mail to reveal to us the shocking news that money doesn't buy happiness.
In an article published not too long ago by what many consider Canada's leading newspaper, we learn how Princeton University researchers have found "that the link between a higher income and an elevated sense of well-being is greatly exaggerated and mostly an illusion."
Will wonders never cease?
It appears the researchers—including a Nobel laureate in economics, no less—used a newly developed procedure to uncover the news that "people with above-average incomes do not necessarily spend more time doing things they enjoy."
Imagine that!
What the Nobelist found, it turns out, is that "those with higher incomes tended to devote more of their free time to tasks involving tension and stress—such as work, shopping, childcare, and exercise."
Who knew?
—M.W.
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February 2008
IN THIS ISSUE
Mal and other top speakers are only a click away. Starting March 6, the Resource Alliance, Inc. and Forum for Fundraising will offer a year's worth of Web-based seminars.
To see who's speaking next, click here.
WHERE'S MAL?
February 12, 2008
New York NY
READ Global Board Meeting
February 25, 2008
New Delhi, India
Resource Alliance, Inc.
March 3-4, 2008
Mumbai, India
Resource Alliance, Inc.
March 9-10, 2008
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sutera Milenium Communications
March 13, 2008
Webinar
Resource Alliance, Inc./Forum for Fundraising
March 26-28, 2008
Prague, Czech Republic
International Fundraising Festival
April 8-11, 2008
Redwood City CA
Global Philanthropy Forum
May 1-4, 2008
Social Venture Network Spring Conference
May 15, 2008
New York NY
or Washington DC
Resource Alliance, Inc.
May 21-25, 2008
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
8th International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation
June 3-5, 2008
Palm Beach FL
DMA Nonprofit Leadership Summit
June 5-8, 2008
Boston MA
Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
2008 BALLE Conference
July 23-25, 2008
Washington DC
Bridge to Integrated Direct Marketing Conference
October 14-17, 2008
Noordwijk, The Netherlands
28th International Fundraising Congress
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Mal Warwick, Editor
Deborah Block, Managing Editor
Kieu Tran, Production Manager
Contributing Editors:
Nick Allen, Donordigital
Ken Burnett, Cascaid Consulting
Harvey McKinnon, Harvey McKinnon Associates
Jerold Panas, Jerold Panas, Linzy & Partners
Steve Thomas, Stephen Thomas
Joe White, Share Group, Inc.
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