What does it really take to NAIL a compelling fundraising appeal?
How long should it be? What’s the best tone to take? Exactly how and when do you make the ask?
Writing powerful appeals is a delicate art, and end of year fundraising is the most critical time of year.
If you want to make sure your nonprofit has the resources to make real change in the world, don’t waste time guessing and potentially miss your chance to raise serious money.
We’ll give you the proven formulas to craft the perfect appeal letter or email, step-by-step from start to finish.
So what are you waiting for?
Get Expert Help for Just $199
4 Experts. 4 Interactive Online Intensives.
Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE
CLAIRIFICATION
CFRE, fundraising coach, top rated blogger and international speaker
Mazarine Treyz
Wild Woman Fundraising
Fundraising author, trainer and coach; has trained over 16,000 fundraising professionals
Tim Kachuriak
NextAfter
International trainer, entrepreneur, author, and keynote speaker
Leah Eustace, ACFRE
Blue Canoe Philanthropy
Responsible for raising hundreds of millions over 25 years, international speaker
You and your team will learn the exact way to…
How to Raise More Money with Your Annual Fundraising Appeal
with Claire Axelrad, Clarification
Crafting successful fundraising appeals might feel like magic, but the path to success is based in simple and clear guidelines.
It’s not something most of us are taught. But it’s easily learned!
Success goes beyond “good” writing—have you considered how envelopes, photos, and even your mailing list play into your approach?
Together, let’s make your next direct mail appeal the most successful you’ve ever imagined.
We’ll explore how designing successful appeals is different from writing brochures, reports or grant proposals. Let’s ensure your fundraising offer is one your donors can’t refuse!
We’ll look at:
- The bone structure behind a successful appeal
- The essential content elements you need for success
- How to make it simple and easy to read
- How to include persuasion triggers your donors simply won’t refuse
- … and more!
Participants said…
“This sparked new ways of thinking of things. I rewrote my whole letter during the presentation!”
“The webinar allowed me to see my mistakes in letter writing and how to give the letters more power and readability.”
About the Presenter
Claire Axelrad, 30-year fundraising veteran
Claire helps move you from forgettable fundraising to passionate philanthropy.
Although she started out as a frontline leader helping to raise millions of dollars, Claire didn’t stop there. She teaches numerous classes, including a CFRE certification course for professional fundraisers. Her blog was named “Top Fundraising Blog” by Fundraising Success, and she’s a featured expert for Bloomerang, Network for Good and many other thought leaders in fundraising industry.
Her mission is to take you from outdated and obsolete fundraising advice, to practical insight that helps you understand why a certain tactic will help you achieve your big vision.
Wrapping It All Up into a Profitable Campaign
With Mazarine Treyz of Wild Woman Fundraising
The year-end giving season brings is the most profitable time for direct mail and email appeals. In the 4th quarter of the year, people tend to give more, both online and offline.
This means that your year-end campaign is absolutely critical to your fundraising success. How can you take advantage of the best fundraising time of the year?
Now that you are nailing down a compelling year-end letter, let’s add some new tactics to raise even more this fall.
- How to polish every part of your direct mail package; outer envelope, letter, buck slip, remit, and other enclosures.
- What formatting mistakes do people often make with their appeals? How can you avoid them?
- How your letter supports your email campaign
- What are the different kinds of stories, and how can you tell them for your cause?
- What are appropriate fundraising images for your letter vs emails?
- How can you make your mission URGENT for your donors in your letter AND your emails?
Whether you’re creating your first year-end appeal or you simply want to improve your results you got last year, this presentation will help you!
Participants said…
“Mazarine gave me great ideas – I was surprised that a longer letter is better. I know this, but examples help. 5 stars!” – Jan Dolph, Walla Walla YWCA
“This was a terrific presentation. I learned how to make a compelling story about one person versus a larger group.” – Amber Dennett, Executive Director, Friends of the River Foundation, Salinas, California
“I loved the practical examples of what works and doesn’t work.” – Carol Atkinson, Insulin for Life, USA, Gainsville, FL
About the Presenter
Mazarine Treyz
Mazarine Treyz helps nonprofits grow better leaders.
She is the author of The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising, and CEO of Wild Woman Fundraising, a national fundraising training company. Her organization runs two virtual conferences per year, one on nonprofit leadership and one on fundraising careers. In addition, she trains people with webinars, in-person workshops, and 10+ e-courses.
Her website is a popular resource with 50,000 monthly readers. Ms. Treyz has co-founded a nonprofit and worked in increasingly responsible fundraising roles for 10 years. She’s trained over 12,000 people from 2011-2017 and helped nonprofits raise millions more. She specializes in nonprofit leadership, fundraising careers, writing fundraising plans, direct mail, e-newsletters, and copy for online fundraising.
She also wrote The Wild Woman’s Guide to Social Media, given a 5 star rating by Nonprofit.About.com. Her latest book, Get the Job! Your Fundraising Career Empowerment Guide, was also given a 5 star review by Nonprofit.About.com.
6 Ways to Write and Design Better Email Fundraising Appeals
with Tim Kachuriak, NextAfter
According to GIGAOM Research, email is ranked as THE MOST effective tactic for awareness, acquisition, conversion, and retention. It also has a better ROI than any other channel.
But getting the most out of your email fundraising isn’t as simple as applying the latest thing you read about online.
In fact, an analysis of 218 email fundraising experiments shows that most “best practices” are actually hurting fundraising results.
In this webinar with Tim Kachuriak from NextAfter, you’ll discover 6 tested and proven strategies that will help you write more effective emails and design campaigns that are proven to increase donations and revenue.
These strategies will show you how to:
- Use the right tone and voice.
- Write copy that appeals to your reader.
- Choose the best design for your context.
- …and more.
Plus, as an added bonus—every attendee of this webinar with get free unrestricted access to a special 6-module online course in Email Fundraising Optimization.
Participants said…
“Gail, once again you are providing compelling, useful information via industry leaders with real expertise. Thank you!”
“Clear, chock full of pointers!”
About the Presenter
Tim Kachuriak, Lead Researcher and co-author of the Online Fundraising Scorecard
Tim helps you understand what inspires donors to give, so you can reach more people, acquire more donors, and raise more money.
The Chief Innovation and Optimization Officer for NextAfter, Tim has trained organizations around the world as far away as India and Norway. He’s a frequent speaker at national nonprofit conferences, a popular author and contributor to top fundraising magazines like Fundraising Success, CO+OP, and Outcomes.
Tim is also the co-founder of Online for Life where he currently serves a Vice Chairman, co-founder and managing partner of Flux Analytics and Donor ID, and is on the MECLABS Advisory Board for Optimization.
Live Appeal Letter Makeover Clinic
With Leah Eustace ACFRE of Blue Canoe Philanthropy and Gail Perry
Now that you’ve done all the learning, it’s time to put it into practice. Here’s a rare chance to have your own appeal letter reviewed by an international expert!
Whether you submit your own letter for review or not, you’ll learn so much by watching makeovers from many different kinds of organizations. You’ll discover what works and what doesn’t work, using real life examples.
We’ll review topics like:
- Letter opening lines
- How to frame your ask
- How to use a PS properly
- Who should write and/or sign the letter
- How to tell a story within the appeal letter framework
- …and more!
Participants said…
“This gave me an opportunity to reimagine how I might compose our letter and enabled me to visualize the strength of storytelling.”
“After an appeal letter makeover: I couldn’t be more excited to send out our year end letter after specific insights and direction on how to make it more donor focused and impactful.”
“It was practical, in the moment, coaching that I could immediately apply to make our year end campaign more successful.”
About the Presenter
Leah Eustace, M.Phil, MInstF, CFRE, ACFRE
Leah help you generate ideas and embrace strategic thinking to tell powerful stories that reach the hearts of your donors.
Over the past 25 years, Leah has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for organizations around the world. Leah is a Board Member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, (AFP), the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy Canada, the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, AFP Canada and the ACFRE Credentialing Board.
She also speaks internationally in the areas of legacy giving, donor psychology, leadership, and philanthropic trends. As well, she’s a regular contributor to Advancing Philanthropy, Hilborn e-news, and many other publications.
Get access to these world-renowned fundraising experts for just $199.
Plus, the video and audio recordings, slide decks, and transcripts—everything you need to break free from self-doubt and know for sure you’re using your fall donation period to maximum advantage.
Full participation in Fired-Up Fundraising Master Classes is applicable for 1 point per hour in Category 1.B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or re-certification.
*NOTE: If you’re a member of the Fired-Up Fundraising INSIDERS, then these webinars are already included with your subscription.
