RSS
Follow Prospecting through your favorite RSS reader.
Tag Archives: charity
December 13, 2011, 5:30 pm
How Fund Raisers Can Use Seduction Techniques
Neil Strauss is not a fund raiser, but he knows a lot about human relationships and motivation.
Mr. Strauss, the author of The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists, spent years testing and perfecting the techniques men use to meet and attract women. One of the most effective techniques could also be useful to fund raisers, he said at the annual NextGen: Charity conference, in New York.
“The best way to sell yourself is to have somebody else selling themselves to you,” he says.
Instead of telling donors why they should give to your organization, Mr. Stauss says, ask them to explain why they would be good donors. When donors articulate why they would want to support your organization, they will convince themselves to give.
“Sometimes you almost have to talk people into doing what they already want to do,” Mr. Strauss says. “There’s no one who doesn’t want to…
July 11, 2011, 9:27 am
An Environmental Nonprofit Seizes On Missed Opportunities
When Acterra, an environmental charity in California’s Silicon Valley, recently revised its standard letter to thank donors, it decided to reinforce donors’ emotional ties to the cause, says Amber Nixon, the group’s development director.
Taking some advice from the free electronic book Lifetime Donor Attraction System, by the fund-raising consultant Pamela Grow, Ms. Nixon said she changed the first paragraph of the group’s letter to give the donor a “sense of joy,” included a personal story, and acknowledged each donor’s commitment to the cause.
Previously, each donor received the same form letter. Now it sends different messages for first-time donors, repeat supporters, and people who make big gifts.
Ms. Nixon said she also seized on a missed opportunity with the letter’s P.S. line, which asked donors to visit the organization’s Web site. Now that line asks donors to become a…
E-mail a Friend
