Posts by Christine Gilliland
Dusting Off My Creative Side
I’m clearly outta practice. 😆 But it felt great to bust out the chalk and dust off my creative side. What sparked this new office art, you ask? I’m feeling invigorated. 🔥 I just returned from the #AFPICON fundraising conference in Toronto. It was my first ever ICON. The conference reminded me why I’m fired up…
Read MoreAnnual Giving: How to Engage Your Donors as Year-Round Partners and Raise More Money Every Year
A is for Annual Giving Don’t let the name confuse you! Just because it’s called annual giving doesn’t mean you should only ask once per year. Instead, your annual giving program is a year-round series of activities that help you build and maintain relationships with your donors, cultivate new prospects, and increase your revenue. According…
Read MoreFast Fact: How Postal Indicia Can Save You Time and Money on Direct Mail
I is for Indicia In direct mail lingo, the postal indicia is the mark on the envelope that shows you have paid for postage. 📬 Essentially, it’s a postage stamp printed directly on the envelope. It’s customizable and less expensive than stamps. And in case you’re wondering how to pronounce it, there’s a raging debate…
Read MoreLumpy Mail Gets Opened
Lumpy mail? 📫✉️ It’s the term used to describe direct mail appeal packs that stand out from the common flat envelope or postcards because there’s an additional object included to make them ‘lumpy’. The object could be anything from a paperclip, a balloon, a magnet, a card… One creative fundraiser I know added a tea…
Read MoreWhy You Should Stop Sending Image-Only Emails (And What to Do Instead)
Are you emailing newsletters, event invitations, forms, or other text heavy content as image-only files? Yes, it’s easy to plop an image file of your newsletter into the body of an email and hit send. Same goes for an event invitation — I understand why you’d want to paste it as an image directly into…
Read MoreHow to Market Your Nonprofit Like a Pro
As a fundraising communications consultant, clients often ask me how they can market and promote their nonprofit organization more effectively. They want to reach more people, raise more awareness, and generate more support for their cause. I always tell them marketing is more than just selling a product or service. It’s about telling a story,…
Read MoreWhy I’m proud to be a CFRE and why you might consider it too
As a fundraising consultant and copywriter, I help my clients build closer, more lasting relationships with their donors. I believe that fundraising is not just about asking for money, but about creating meaningful connections that inspire generosity and social change. That’s why I decided to pursue the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential, a voluntary…
Read MoreUse Subheads to Make Your Writing Easier on the Head
Subheads. I strongly recommend using them — especially in your in fundraising writing. Here’s why 👇 Subheads help your readers scan and understand your message quickly. And believe me, your readers are scanning. They’re not poring over every word. (Sorry. I know you work hard on every word.) But your readers are busy. Their attention…
Read MoreHow to Get More Mileage From Your Fundraising Copywriting
A client asked: “Last year’s appeal was a huge success. Can we use that story again in another fundraising appeal?” Yes! You can. And you should. Give it a refresh if necessary. But absolutely use it again. Especially if it was successful. We put a lot of effort and love into our storytelling. We pore…
Read MoreHave You Heard of Doubling Day?
What’s Doubling Day? If you send direct mail, doubling day is a neat calculation to help you predict how your appeal will perform. 📬 Doubling day is the point when you can anticipate that have the responses have come in. You can use doubling day to predict the total amount of money your appeal will raise.…
Read More