Dear Ohdeuk,
Here are the latest fundraising tips and insights from Mal Warwick & Associates, plus highlights from the most recent issue of Mal Warwick's Newsletter: Successful Direct Mail, Telephone, and online Fundraising.
www.malwarwick.com/newsletter/success0311.html
FUNDRAISING'S HOLY GRAIL: WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT LEGACY GIVING? By Mal Warwick
$41 TRILLION. Yes, trillion. The number itself is enough to send a fundraiser's blood racing through her arteries. It's a big number, representing about four years' worth of the total output of the gargantuan U.S. economy at its current rate. And, to most fundraisers, it's a familiar number, too -- the "intergenerational wealth transfer," the amount of money John Havens and Paul Schervish of the Boston College Social Welfare Research Institute have calculated will pass from those who were adults in 1998 to their heirs during the next half-century or so.
Complete text: www.malwarwick.com/newsletter/success0311.html#holy
WHEN STANDING OUT MAY NOT STAND UP By Susie Fought
THE AVERAGE direct mail donor receives up to 20 pieces of mail a day. With that kind of competition in the mailbox, how can you ensure your acquisition appeal will even get opened? one strategy is to mail your package in an outer envelope that stands out from the rest. Here are five examples of outer envelopes that certainly caught my eye:
Complete text: www.malwarwick.com/newsletter/success0311.html#standing
SPREAD THE WORD
Our free e-newsletter now has over 2,900 monthly subscribers in 40 countries! But we know there are many more, at nonprofits of all sizes, who can benefit from the new ideas and insights that you receive with each issue. If you have friends or colleagues who could use a little help with their fundraising (and isn't that everyone?) you can use the link below or simply forward this message. Thanks!
ASK MAL
Mal Warwick is waiting to answer your fundraising questions -- just go to www.malwarwick.com/askmal.html. Here's a recent question from a reader:
WHEN SHOULD A YEAR-END APPEAL BE MAILED?
Mal answers: I believe it's most advantageous to ensure that the mail arrives at least a few days before Thanksgiving. This will give donors the opportunity either to respond immediately (as many will do) or to include the appeal in a number of other solicitations that they'll answer in the final weeks of the year.
Complete text: www.malwarwick.com/askmal06.html#question272 Ask your own question: www.malwarwick.com/askmal.html
FIVE (NEW) WAYS TO INTEGRATE YOUR onLINE AND OFFLINE FUNDRAISING By Madeline Stanionis
FOR YEARS, we've talked about online and offline integration. If you've achieved it, read no further. If not, read on: Here are a few ideas for taking your integration efforts one step further.
Complete text: www.malwarwick.com/newsletter/success0311.html#integrate
COMING SOON! MAL'S NEW BOOK, "REVOLUTION IN THE MAILBOX: YOUR GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL DIRECT MAIL FUNDRAISING"
This updated edition of Mal Warwick's landmark book has been thoroughly revised to provide your nonprofit organization with the most current and comprehensive survey of direct mail fundraising available anywhere. If you follow Mal’s practical, down-to-earth advice, direct mail will help your organization grow, gain visibility, involve your donors, increase its efficiency, and achieve financial stability. Written in an easy, conversational style, this latest edition is filled with real-world examples and illustrations showing how you can realize the full potential of direct mail by putting it to work as a strategic tool.
Pre-publication Discount! Save 20% when you pre-order "Revolution in the Mailbox." More information: www.malwarwick.com/revolution.html
STEVE HITCHCOCK'S MAILBAG Steve Hitchcock discusses the major misconceptions people have about writing well.
Probably the biggest misconception is that writing is hard or difficult, something to labor over. The secret of writing -- especially writing effective fundraising letters -- is to write quickly and naturally. To let the words flow out of your fingers, to talk a "blue streak" on paper. We're wary of people who choose their words too carefully, and we seldom vote for political candidates who appear to be "thinking" while they're speaking. Donors write checks because they feel a personal and comfortable connection with your organization.
Complete text: www.malwarwick.com/mailbag/mailbag0311.html
MAL WARWICK AND GWEN CHAPMAN TO SPEAK IN SEATTLE AT THE ASSOCIATION OF FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS' INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE on FUND-RAISING
Mal Warwick will present "Problem Solving with the Masters" and "Direct Mail Creative: The Copy Clinic" with Kay Partney Lautman, and Gwen Chapman will present "The Gardener's Guide to Bequest Prospects" at the Association of Fundraising Professionals' International Conference on Fund-Raising, March 15 - 16, 2004, in Seattle, Washington.
Details: www.afpnet.org Registration: www2.expoedge.com/its/0403frpsea/choices.asp
More workshops: www.malwarwick.com/workshops.html
FEATURED CLIENT OF THE MONTH: San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Founded in 1982, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation is now in its third decade of providing leadership in the battle to end the pandemic and the human suffering caused by HIV. The AIDS Foundation provides a broad array of compassionate and critical services to help people face the challenges of living with HIV disease and help stop the spread of HIV in our communities. The Foundation also plays a key role in securing funding for AIDS programs and shaping AIDS policies at the local, state, and national levels.
Since 1997, Mal Warwick & Associates and Response Management Technologies have worked with the Foundation to manage the direct response program, and together we have generated over $7 million to support the Foundation's critical work.
Visit their website at www.sfaf.org.
WHAT'S UP onLINE By Dan Weeks
Since 1979, Trickle Up has been helping the world's poor create self-sufficiency through micro-enterprise. Their Web site, at www.trickleup.org, is vibrant and colorful, with great photographs ...
Complete text: www.malwarwick.com/newsletter/success0311.html#whatsup
WANT MORE? This electronic newsletter features only two of the many insightful and fact-filled articles that appear six times a year in each printed issue of "Mal Warwick's Newsletter: Successful Direct Mail, Telephone, and online Fundraising." You can learn more -- and subscribe -- by calling, toll-free, (800) 217-7377.
Details at www.malwarwick.com/subscribe.html
TALK TO US! What do you think of our newsletter? Some of the most interesting and challenging questions come from our readers -- we'd like to know what YOU think! Just drop us a note at news@malwarwick.com
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE The entire contents of this message are copyright (c) 2003 by Mal Warwick & Associates, Inc.
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