One side-effect of the newsletter being every other week now is that I don't always remember to mention the upcoming teleseminars. So before I forget, please mark your calendars for our next teleseminar, which is May 4. You can always find out when the next one is by checking the home page of the web site at http://www.naprp.com
I also wanted to mention that the speaker for our teleseminar in August was suggested by one of our members. Benevon has a sustainable fundraising model and a reader of this newsletter wanted to learn more about it, so she asked me to invite someone from the company to speak. You can do the same thing! If there is a company or individual you want to hear more from, please let me know. The more you tell me what you need, the better I can try to help you.
On a related note, I've read many articles lately about online copywriting. In marketing, good copy is all about explaining the benefits of a product or service and then asking for the order. Simply failing to "ask" is a common reason why Web site copy doesn't result in sales.
The same thing is true when it comes to fundraising. Oddly enough, many organizations are so worried about offending their donors that they actually don't ask for donations in many of their communications. It's a recipe for disaster. You won't get donations if you don't ask.
For example, it's great to write informative newsletters about what you are doing, but don't forget to include a note about donations as well. When you write interesting newsletters with great stories about all the wonderful work you are doing, people will look forward to reading them. As you explain what you use donations for, people know their contributions are being used wisely and well. And they won't be offended when you ask for more.