by Bill Jacobs | Jul 29, 2025 | Donor Retention, Non-profit, Nonprofits
Each fall, we here at Analytical Ones survey the trends in fundraising and come up with testing ideas for your fall campaigns. Last year, we recommended testing first class postage, to avoid the USPS’s SOP of delivering all nonprofit postage appeals on the same day....
by Bill Jacobs | Jul 9, 2024 | Direct Mail, Donor Retention, Non-profit, Nonprofits
This post co-authored by me and long-time friend and former colleague, Jeff Brooks, the most vigilant blogger in fundraising I know. One of most counterintuitive truths about fundraising is this: The more recently a donor gave, the more likely they are to give now....
by Bill Jacobs | Apr 29, 2024 | Direct Mail, Donor Retention, Major Donors, Non-profit, Uncategorized
I have been analyzing the fundraising business for nearly three decades and over the years I keep seeing nonprofit organizations making the same mistakes. These errors hold organizations back. If you are new to fundraising, please commit yourself to avoiding these...
by Bill Jacobs | May 31, 2021 | Donor Acquisition, Donor Retention, gratefulness, Non-profit, nonprofit analytics, Nonprofits
A year ago, all of us in the business of fundraising were nervous. Lockdowns were taking place across the world, there were shortages of toilet paper and no one was sure how donors would respond. No one could have predicted that donors would respond in a such an...
by Bill Jacobs | Aug 12, 2019 | Donor Acquisition, Donor Retention
Last week, I was revisiting some 10-year old analyses. It was both comforting and alarming at the same moment. Comforting in the fact that your Multi-Year donors today (those who have given to you in at least the last two consecutive years) perform very similarly to...
by Bill Jacobs | Jul 29, 2019 | agency new business development, Donor Retention, Donor Stewardship
Recently, I attended the Bridge Conference in Washington, D.C. While there, I was struck by two simple things. First of all, it sure can rain in the capital… I was in a meeting at one of the restaurants on the lower level of my hotel when one of the fountains began to...