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Inside this site
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 Lots of good advice and real-life examples you can learn from.
Welcome to our merry tribe of troublemakers!
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Secret to a profitable fundraising program? A great case for support
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 Want a case that donors will love? Read this highly practical how-to book. Special bonus feature: short chapters.
Table of Contents
"Why do you want my hard-earned money?" A good case richly answers that basic but profound question. "Okay," you say, "but you only need a case for a capital campaign." Wrong. Behind every successful fundraising program stands a well-argued, psychologically sound case that determines the contents of newsletters, websites, and your appeals. This is the how-to book every ambitious fundraiser should read. I've taken everything I've learned writing dozens of cases for all sorts of clients and campaigns ... and clamped it all between two covers. Buy it on Amazon or at the publisher.
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Get your donor communications right
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The science and secrets of effective donor persuasion
 Table of Contents
" Dammit, man - you've written a book I wanted to write! Excellent, excellent stuff. Seriously, I'm going to have my staff and as many of my clients as possible read it." —Jeff Brooks Click to order the book directly from the publisher. Or order from Amazon.
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Links of interest
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Categories
 Nonprofit (17)
Of use to somebody (10)
Research (9)
Most Recent
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The Agitator
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Fundraising & advocacy strategies, trends, tips...with an edge. A deep (and deeply entertaining) repository of frank advice from top practitioners.
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Campbell Rinker
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Campbell Rinker is a top source of recent research on specific types of donors: hospital donors, Catholic donors, zoo donors, etc.
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CASE
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The professional association for college, university and private school fundraisers.
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What we do
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> WRITE unusually effective donor materials for your nonprofit
> AUDIT your materials and show you how to improve them
> TRAIN you via books, workshops -- and this very website
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Where the sausage is made...
My architect-designed office
When I was getting by and not so serious, I typed anywhere. When I wanted to get into the big leagues, I called in a professional to design my work flow.
Is it THAT season again?
Annual reports
Why do they die so young (but without the good-looking corpse)?
Awaiting your consideration in the critic's box: two annual reports I admire, one for its donor-worshipping ways, one for a timeline that builds a brand. Must see!
Neither dying hurricane nor...
Austin road trip
No matter what I do, I can't make bequest marketing fun
Although I did ask everyone in the 180-person audience to take this pledge, repeat after me: "If I do nothing now, my organization loses forever a once-in-a-generation opportunity." There's an extra-large age cohort ripe for charitable bequests but about to pass from this earth. So act now. "Everyone LOVED your presentation and many people said it was among the most useful of their entire career. So thank you from the bottom of our collective hearts -- the timing was just perfect also with the 'market recalibration' we're all experiencing." Cyndy Perkins, CFRE, Austin, TX. I did three workshops: Love Thy Reader, bequest marketing for lunch, the do-it-yourself fundraising communications audit in the afternoon. Blog entry. 
New in the critic's box...
Recruiting brochure makeover
Jenny Foster, communications manager at the Steppingstone Foundation, wanted to update their marketing materials aimed at brainy 4th-7th graders in Boston's public schools and their parents. A couple of phone consultations later, Jenny and her team at this life-changing charity had effective new materials. See the before-and-after.
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Ahern designated CASE "Faculty Star"
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Thanks to workshop participant ratings of 4.5 or better (on a 5.0 scale) at the 39th annual CASE/NAIS conference, CASE has designated me a Faculty Star. "It places you in the top echelon of all CASE faculty...." Feb. 24, 2009.
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Ahern now on Warwick newsletter board
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Mal Warwick has kindly reprinted a number of my columns in his professional newsletter. In June 2009, he added me to the newsletter's advisory board.
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My (yawn) blog
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Talking points. Food crossed with politics? Whatever (and I mean that). Where I go. Who(m) I meet. Jump.
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Popular-ish...
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Free Subscription
YES!! Subscribe to our FREE, practical, how-to e-news. It's like an every-so-often micro-seminar in best practices."Your advice works and has made a huge difference...." Peter C., Australia Click. To sample back issues of this all-pro e-news. Click.
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See Critiques
 Read nitpicking critiques of actual donor materials sent to me for comment. Observe best and not-so-best practices at work. Learn from others' mistakes. Profit from others' bright ideas. Downloadable PDFs.
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Sample case statements
Downloadable PDFs from successful campaigns, to help you work out your case.
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Fave how-to books
Click for omniscience. Latest: 4/3/09.
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Wheildon readability research
Australian editor Colin Wheildon did his pioneering research in the 1990s. It's the only research of its kind I know. Reprinted with permission. View selected findings.
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T-shirts with a wordy twist
See the whole cheeky line. For women, men, kids. U get to chewz yr fave style, color, size. Click. When there, click "view all products." ------ The place in FranceWe have a 2nd office in a wine-making village, deep in the south of France. (Note to hopeless Francophiles: we do rent the place.) To take a mental vacation, click. Our village vineyards: 
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Joyaux University
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Simone P. Joyaux, ACFRE, author of Strategic Fund Development: Building Profitable Relationships That Last (2nd edition) is my far-better-known colleague and spousal unit. Visit her vast website, packed with useful information for fundraising and organizational development. Click.
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Reprinting material
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Articles from this website, my books, and the Love Thy Reader e-newsletter are often reprinted: repeatedly in Mal Warwick's newsletter; as a frequent guest on the Texas Nonprofits resource website (txnp.org); once on the SOFII (Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration) website (sofii.org), started by the UK's Ken Burnett; in Canada Fundraiser on occasion; in South Africa, in Fundraising Forum, published as a public service by Downes Murray International; and the Network for Good Learning Center.
It's an honor and a pleasure. If you want to reprint anything on this website, please do. Of course, attribute; it's all copyrighted. Let your readers know, too, that they can sign up free for my e-newsletter by coming to this site. Drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you. |
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