Mothers' donor database know-how: how MADD personalizes appeal letters with local chapter information

In honor of Mother's day, we're running a case study

Fundraising appeals for many MADD Florida chapters are produced and mailed from one central office, but donors won’t be able to tell. With personalization, these letters will look and sound local, addressing the local activities of the closest chapter.

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Tags: user spotlights, nonprofit fundraising, fundraising letters

3 Mother's Day Suggestions for FundRaiser Users

Non-traditional ways to honor mothers

Mother's Day was begun, back in the early 1900's, as a celebration of the person to whom we owe our very existence, but quickly became so commercialized that even the originator of the day became disenfranchised with it.  If we want to truly celebrate our mothers, we can do better than giving flowers or a dinner out, I think, and FundRaiser can be a part of that effort.

Tributes Module

FundRaiser recently got an upgrade to the Tributes module, in that there is now an "In Celebration of" tribute type, in addition to the usual "In Honor of", and "In Memory of" tributes.  You might consider an effort to solicit donations "In Celebration of Mother's Day", as an alternative to the gifts, cards, dinners, flowers, etc.  A donation to (your worthy cause here) can be a loving tribute that lasts longer that it takes to read a card, eat a dinner, or for those flowers to wilt.  Using the Tributes Module (optional in Select, standard in Professional) will let you easily track these types of donations, create lists of tribute donors for newsletters, as well as send appropriate correspondence to donors AND to the mothers they are honoring in this way.  If you don't yet have the module, you can learn more about it here.

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Tags: features, nonprofit fundraising, training tip

FundRaiser users respond: reaching out to donors in times of national tragedy

You might have planned to make a post about some event or topic that seems out of step with the reactions that flood the newsfeeds when such well-publicized tragedies occur. Do you stay the course and make the post? Do you pause the post? Do you make a brief comment of condolence, or use the opportunity to offer some help if the crisis relates to your mission?

Some FundRaiser users quickly went into action with posts related to their mission. Here's how a few of them handled it:

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Tags: user spotlights, nonprofit fundraising, social media

Are you contacting your best donor prospects?

• animal shelters can ask people who had adopted animals
• places that have an admission charge like museums, nature centers can ask visitors
• organizations that put on conferences or festivals can ask attendees
• health care organizations can ask people who have received health services
• schools can ask alumni
• theater groups can ask box office visitors
• and so forth

Low Hanging Fruit

These people who have already shown that they value your organization offer fundraisers the equivalent of low-hanging fruit, says Laurie Anderson Mann, of DramaBiz.

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Tags: nonprofit fundraising

7 steps for your nonprofit to establish a successful memorial giving program

• increased donations and
• stronger emotional ties with your donors

Of course to create a really successful tribute program, you'll need to do more. Step by step is the way to succeed.

Memorial gifts are made on the death of a loved one (people and companion animals), or in honor of a special life event like a wedding. People are especially likely to want to make memorial donations to organizations that deal with life and death issues, such as hospices and other health care related programs; veterinary practices and animal shelters. For instance, Kairos Dwelling, which houses terminally ill people, says that a large percentage of their income comes from tributes.

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Tags: nonprofit fundraising