November 2008 Entries
A year end appeal letter? Many ministries don't do them despite the fact that the wise ministry recognizes that 30-50% of an organization's funding may come in the month of December. So suffice it to say, it is wise, if not imperative that you write a year end appeal letter to your donors.
What are some of the basics in writing a year end appeal letter? They are as follows:
1. Keep it short. No more that 1 and 1/2 pages.
2. Tell a story. People like stories. Jesus used stories. Better yet, people share stories.
3. Use pictures. A picture tells a...
posted @ Saturday, November 29, 2008 10:19 AM |
It's the home stretch. This is the time when many ministries will receive up to 30-50% of their giving--in a single month. It's remarkable what takes place at this time of year. The question is whether your ministry is prepared to receive these kind of year end gifts.
First, what drives year end giving? Quite simply, it's the charitable deduction. Many people come to year end and are calculating their tax liability they will owe. In order to reduce that tax liability, they, and their financial professionals will often encourage them to increase their giving so they get additional deduction and...
posted @ Friday, November 28, 2008 11:14 AM |
What kind of website do you have? Does it produce giving? Do you know the elements that produce giving?
A recent study by the Poynter Institute tells us what attracts attention:
1. 75-80% of the time people will look at photos and artwork
2. 56% of the time people will look at headlines
3. 31% of the time people will look at briefs and sidebars
4. 29% of the time people will look at captions
5. 20-25% of the time people will read articles
So what does this tell us we should do? Have good pictures. Write good headlines--ones that catch attention, call to action, demand readership. ...
posted @ Saturday, November 22, 2008 10:57 AM |
With the downturn in the stock market, the ripple effect is widespread. Most grantmaking foundations were invested in the stock market. They experienced the same losses as the average investor. The amount of loss depends on the investment strategy. Some foundations lost 30% in the downturn. How does a ministry approach a foundation which has experienced this downturn in its own portfolio.
First, the selection of the foundations you seek to apply to remains the critical fact. You need to apply to foundations that are most likely to fund your cause. Christian foundations want to fund Christian organizations. That is why...
posted @ Monday, November 17, 2008 9:42 PM |
Blogs are a great way to let people know about your ministry without having to sell them on it. The key to a blog is letting people see that you are an expert in the area that you serve. If you are with a rescue mission, write about the plight of the homeless. If you are in youth ministry, write about the challenges and opportunity of working with you. You get the idea.
Once you've decided to do a blog and let all the world know that you are an expert, how do you increase blog traffic. The ideas behind increasing...
posted @ Sunday, November 16, 2008 11:44 AM |