Halloween is just around the corner, but there’s one thing that gives me chills all year long: hearing the words, “We’re going to do it in-house.”
I’ve written before about the dangers of the DIY (do-it-yourself) mentality in nonprofit fundraising. The most frightening thing is the amount of time you’ll spend doing everything but meeting with donor prospects, like:
- Writing and editing compelling, donor-centric website copy that also includes inline hyperlinks, keywords for SEO, illustrated and animated gift descriptions, and video.
- Sending the copy to the legal team for review, then rewriting to apply their edits.
- Sending the copy to the board and everyone else on the team for review, then rewriting to apply their
- Writing compelling, donor-centric marketing communications such as thank-you letters, campaign announcements, donor stories, intent forms, and other nonprofit fundraising materials
- Sending that nonprofit fundraising copy to the legal team, the board, and everyone else on the team for review, then rewriting to apply their edits …
Trust me, that’s only part of the to-do list. And like I said, the most frightening thing about it is the amount of time fundraisers are not spending on donor recruitment, stewardship and retention — the tasks that actually fund their nonprofits! This lack of focus is one of the reasons so many nonprofits fail.
And failure is the last thing we want to see — your mission is too important. That is why we work very hard to ensure our nonprofit fundraising clients should never feel like they have to go “in house” to fulfill their marketing needs. While other firms focus solely on their bottom line and peddle outdated, one-size-fits-all marketing “solutions,” we focus on helping you achieve your mission.
We’re Focused on Your Nonprofit Fundraising Success
Here are just some of the steps we take to help you succeed:
- Affordability: We know that each nonprofit comes with a different budget and a unique set of needs. That’s why we’ve developed multiple service levels and products at different price points. Because when it comes to marketing your mission, it’s never cheaper to do it yourself.
- Collaboration: We’ll work with you to discover your needs, and together, formulate a strategy to meet them.
- Communication: We want to know what we’re doing right, and what we can do to improve. We value your input, and we love to from you — even when it’s to say, “This isn’t quite working, can you fix it?”
- Honesty: We won’t tell you what we think you want to hear — we’ll tell you the truth. If we know a particular strategy isn’t going to work, or if you’re requesting something that’s not in your nonprofit’s best interests, we’ll let you know.
- Progress checks: Whenever we’re working on a project, we schedule regular client calls to keep you up-to-date on your nonprofit fundraising progress — no guessing about where we’re at and when it will be completed.
- Simplicity: Our products and services are designed to be user-friendly (and donor-friendly), and always come with instructions. If you ever have questions, we’ll be glad to help. We live our motto: “Don’t just simplify, oversimplify.”
- Transparency: We’re up front about everything we do. No hidden fees. No “secret sauce” in our strategies. Have a question? Just ask.
- Wrap Meeting: When your project is complete, we’ll schedule one last meeting to review your project’s key performance indicators and get your thoughts on things went.
You focus on the fundraising. We’ll focus on the marketing. Together, we’ll raise the bar on success.
Category: Stewardship, Planned Giving Marketing
