Books about Mercifully from Amazon.com

There's a sleeping giant in your midst. One with enormous fundraising potential And unless your newsletter is bringing in thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars every year, it's time to shake it from its slumber. Today, countless organizations are raising more money with their newsletter than with traditional mail appeals. And after reading Tom Ahern's riveting book, Raising More Money with Newsletters than You Ever Thought Possible, it's easy to understand why. Great newsletters, as distinguished from the mundane ones many of us receive, have so much more going for them. For starters, they deliver real news (not tired features such as "From the Director's Desk'' and "Introducing Our New Staff"). They make the donor feel important. They use emotional triggers to spur action. They're designed in a way to attract both browsers and readers. And they don't depend on dry statistics to make the organization's case. Ahern knows newsletters inside and out. Not only has he written his fair share, but he's analyzed scores of them for other organizations. Moreover, his workshop, "How to Write Great Donor Newsletters," is consistently over-subscribed. So when he speaks - as he does in engaging and eloquent prose- you hang onto his every word. The essence of Raising More Money with Newsletters than You Ever Thought Possible centers around seven fatal flaws, as Ahern calls them. "Almost every donor newsletter I see suffers from at least one of the flaws," he says early in the book. "You would be shocked by how many newsletters suffer from all seven." Along the way to discussing - and dissecting - these fatal flaws, the reader is treated to such chapters as: o Making news out of thin air o What a front page is for o Lower the grade level of your writing o Anecdotes versus stats o How should it look? A proven formula And those are only five of the 45! succinct chapters in this book. Chances are you already have a newsletter, that's the good news. You have the vehicle in place. The even better news is that transforming your newsletter into a substantial money raiser isn't all that difficult. As Ahern himself says, "You don't need a degree in journalism to publish a newsletter that will keep your donors inspired (and generous). You just need a few skills and insights." Read this book. Pick up those skills. And be assured that the ratio of time spent versus gains realized might well be the most cost-effective of your entire career..
Price: $16.47 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Generously dispensing advice, insider tips, and recommendations for which she usually commands tidy sums, Madeline Stanionis, President and Creative Director of Donordigital, reveals precisely what you need to do, step by step, to raise substantial money with email.

And while it's not as simple as sending hastily written emails every week or month, neither is it unduly complicated or time-consuming.

At heart, raising thousands of dollars with email is all about building your list, using timing to your advantage, crafting a series of coherent messages, presenting your email in a visually appealing way, and carefully observing your returns for clues that can guide your future efforts.

That's it really. And any organization following Stanionis' trenchant advice will see immediate results.

Further, there's plenty of material in the book to customize and adapt, as Stanionis offers a wealth of sample emails from diverse organizations.

And taking it a step further, in the Resources section of the book, the author shows you how to identify just the help you might need (a "messaging vendor" who can send your emails, for example).

Other books talk about "Internet fundraising," which usually encompasses e-commerce strategies such as online shopping malls and auctions. That's all well and good, but many of us want to know one simple thing ¬¬- how can we raise more money with email? And do it now?

Raising Thousands (if Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars with Email puts that question to rest..
Price: $15.65 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A concise, readable and irreverent introduction to financial accounting. The book uses easy to understand examples that gives the reader the "why" behind accounting principles...not just the "how". The reader is alerted to the limitations of accounting as well as its strengths. The book describes some of the most common forms of accounting frauds..
Price: $6.83 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Whoever heard of raising $1,000 gifts (not to mention $3,000, $4,000 and $5,000 gifts) by mail? That's the realm of face-to-face fundraising, right?

Not exclusively, says Mal Warwick, in his book, The Mercifully Brief, Real World Guide to Raising $1,000 Gifts by Mail.

And Warwick should know. He's spent the last decade perfecting the art of high dollar direct mail.

Take just one mailing Warwick cites (he's produced scores of them to draw from). Nearly $150,000 was raised from only 2,400 donors, many of whom had never given more than $100 to the organization sending the mailing.

Just as remarkable, the final fundraising cost for this effort was … eight cents! per dollar raised.

How do you do this? Must you tap a professional firm or be a prizewinning writer?

Absolutely not. Warwick touts self-reliance. He shows you - with carefully selected examples and illustrations - how to succeed on your own, walking you step by step through the process of identifying your prospects, crafting the right letter, the right brochure, the right response device, and the right envelope.

In this pioneering work, Warwick convinces even the most doubting Thomas. Commit to the strategies he outlines, and you'll be startled, if not astounded, by the results..
Price: $18.20 [Notify me when price goes down.]

To attract attention to your cause, you could: -Paint your building Day-Glo orange -Blare hip hop music from the rooftop -Have staff members sport Mohawk haircuts But if you're a bit less bombastic, and searching for innovative (and more palatable) ways to attract ongoing attention, you'll fare much better with Joseph Barbato's book, Attracting the Attention Your Cause Deserves. First, let's make clear what this book is NOT. It is not a guide for writing press releases. It is not a manual for creating a speaker's bureau. It is not a treatise offering PR palaver. All of those hairs have been split … many times over. Attracting the Attention Your Cause Deserves is something far more useful - and invigorating - to those wanting to advance the good work of their organization. Think of it as a "Trade Secrets Revealed" book, one allowing you to accomplish three key objectives for your cause: 1) Greater visibility 2) A broader constituency 3) More money raised And who better to write it than Joseph Barbato, a widely respected pro who's worked both sides of the aisle. For 20 years he toiled in the public information departments of various nonprofits. Now he heads an award-winning firm that works with some of America's top nonprofits. After reading Attracting the Attention Your Cause Deserves, here are just a few of the skills you'll become more proficient at: -Sharpening your organization's niche -Identifying the range of people who benefit from your work … thereby targeting your audiences with greater precision - Cultivating the right media people, locally, regionally, and nationally if appropriate - Organizing your website most efficiently for the press - Making a persuasive pitch, in writing and over the phone - Becoming the "go to" person for reporters and others, and - Learning how to package your expertise to gain even greater exposure With more than a million nonprofit organizations in existence, there's a lot of noise out there. Shouting won't get you noticed - everyone's doing that. And everyone's tuning it out. What will attract attention is following Joseph Barbato's field-tested advice. Take his insider wisdom to heart. It spills over every single page of this book. Then, even if you whisper, rest assured you'll still be heard..
Price: $17.27 [Notify me when price goes down.]