{"id":142299,"date":"2025-11-07T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/?p=142299"},"modified":"2025-11-04T17:09:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T22:09:47","slug":"ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/","title":{"rendered":"When your fundraising appeal is already good, what else can you do to increase response?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/category\/ask-an-expert\/\">Ask An Expert<\/a>\u00a0series features real questions answered by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/claire-axelrad-jd-cfre-joins-the-bloomerang-team-as-fundraising-coach\/\">Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE<\/a>, also known as Charity Clairity.\u00a0<\/strong><b>Today\u2019s question comes from a nonprofit employee who wants advice on improving their year-end appeal:\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i>Dear Charity Clairity,<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>My boss is totally on my case to make our end-of-year appeal our best ever. I am tearing out my hair, because I\u2019ve no idea what to do to make it better. I already follow all the rules I\u2019ve learned from reading fundraising books and attending webinars. I feel I\u2019m pretty on top of best practices. Do you have any special tips, based on real-life experience, that might help us tip the scales?<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&#8212; Flummoxed Fundraiser<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><i>Dear Flummoxed Fundraiser,<\/i><\/p>\n<p>I congratulate you on your openness to considering tactics you may not have previously contemplated. It\u2019s important to be able to think both inside and outside the box. So, allow me to suggest a few outside things \u2013 based on my experience working in this field for four decades \u2013 that really pack a punch.<\/p>\n<p><b>These winning tactics I\u2019m recommending are <\/b><b><i>not the letter<\/i><\/b><b> itself.<\/b> It\u2019s possible your letter is already perfect. In fact, by fiddling with it you may just make it worse!<\/p>\n<h2>Let\u2019s look at four magic tricks you can do.<\/h2>\n<p>I say these tactics are magic because I\u2019ve never seen them fail. And\u2026 the bonus is they\u2019re relatively simple to do!<\/p>\n<p><b>NOTE:<\/b> Want to be sure, after the fact, these strategies were, indeed, the magic that really lifted your response rate and\/or average donation? If you have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/s\/statistically_significant.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statistically significant<\/a> sampling (enough people in your test to be confident the results couldn\u2019t have occurred by chance), you can, and should, do a <a href=\"https:\/\/kindful.com\/blog\/nonprofits-need-ab-testing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">randomized A\/B test<\/a>. This way, every campaign can be a learning opportunity \u2013 which makes you look smart!<\/p>\n<h3>1. Change the outer envelope.<\/h3>\n<p>This takes almost no work at all.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s a critical step too many organizations overlook. Think about it. Your letter is no good if the would-be reader never sees it! Boring envelopes get tossed before they\u2019re opened (as do emails with boring subject lines, by the way). So, try one of these magic tricks to make all the hard work you put into crafting the appeal\u2019s content doesn\u2019t go to waste:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Plain envelope.\u00a0<\/b> No logo. Not even your name. Just a return address (and a place where a volunteer who is adding personal notes can hand write their own name).\u00a0 The mystery is hard for folks to resist. Use for renewals and warm prospects for whom you\u2019re mailing first class. Note: the post office won\u2019t allow this unless you\u2019re using a first-class stamp, so it\u2019s for renewal and warm prospecting letters more than for direct mail acquisition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Colored envelope.\u00a0<\/b>This is something to test. I\u2019ve had great success with brightly colored envelopes that don\u2019t even match the design of the enclosed appeal.\u00a0 They simply stand out in the mail box and do their job of getting opened.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Oversized envelope.\u00a0<\/b>This is another trick to get folks to take notice. An oversized envelope stands out in the mail. Of course, it requires extra postage and this can backfire, making folks think you\u2019re using money for the wrong purposes. It works best for event invitations rather than annual appeals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Envelope teaser.\u00a0<\/b>Direct mail fundraising guru\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/How-Write-Successful-Fundraising-Letters\/dp\/078795652X\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mal Warwick<\/a>\u00a0describes a range of needs that can be accomplished with a teaser, ranging from describing what\u2019s inside to asking a question to starting a story. He also says \u201c<i>Often the best teaser is no teaser at all. Fundraising letters are almost always crafted to mimic personal letters, so teasers may well cheapen or undermine the effect the writer wants to achieve<\/i>.\u201d Use some judgment. And ask folks outside your office if the teaser would turn them on or off. Begin your own collection at home, noting which teasers get you to open the envelopes and which you\u2019d be inclined to toss.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Subject line teaser.<\/b>\u00a0The subject line of an email is much like the outer envelope for direct mail. It\u2019s the window into your message \u2013 inviting you to open it, or not. Make it intriguing, urgent, exciting, compelling, emotional, shocking or funny. The more useful and specific it is the better.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/clairification.com\/2014\/12\/14\/still-time-get-7-perfect-holiday-email-subject-lines-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more on some great year-end email subject lines<\/a>. And these days you can easily engage AI to help you craft these (there\u2019s the free version of ChatGPT, or just use your browser to search &#8212; you\u2019ll find plenty of free products)!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2. Add a personal, hand-written note.<\/h3>\n<p>This takes some coordination, but it\u2019s well worth the effort.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m talking about a note written directly on the appeal letter itself, or a little sticky note you affix to the top (visible when the recipient opens the appeal). You likely won\u2019t have the bandwidth to write notes on every appeal, but you can definitely do so where it\u2019s likely to give you the biggest bang for your buck.\u00a0 There are two places where I\u2019d suggest you focus:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Donors who\u2019ve made above-average gifts to you in the past. <\/b>First, figure out what the average gift was to your organization. Second, run a report of everyone who gave more than this amount. Might you be able to add notes to these folks\u2019 appeals? You can have a volunteer or staff person do this. Just something simple like: \u201c<i>Thanks for your support. It means a lot!<\/i>\u201d \u201c<i>You make all the difference!<\/i>\u201d \u201c<i>Your generosity means the world to those who rely on our support<\/i>.\u201d What\u2019s important is you begin with <i>you<\/i> and you put it in <i>handwriting<\/i>, so the donor feels special. Because <i>you took the time<\/i> to single them out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Donors who have connections to your board and committee members, other donors and volunteers. <\/b>People give to people, not organizations. So, if someone the recipient knows adds a personal note, they\u2019ll automatically pay more attention. It\u2019s a form of <a href=\"https:\/\/clairification.com\/2013\/06\/17\/5-secrets-of-psychologists-how-to-get-donors-to-say-yes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social proof<\/a>, one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini\/dp\/006124189X\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">key principles of influence<\/a> espoused by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Cialdini\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert Cialdini<\/a>. If someone <i>else<\/i> thinks your organization is worth supporting, then the recipient is likely to agree. For them, the note acts as a decision-making shortcut.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>3. Segment your mailing list using donor identity importance.<\/h3>\n<p>This makes your appeal more personal.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, you can segment by donor\/non-donor or small\/mid-level\/major. Or even by personas (e.g., \u201cSuzy Soccer Mom,\u201d \u201cWanda Widow,\u201d \u201cBusby Businessman,\u201d etc.) you apply somewhat arbitrarily. Of course, any segmentation is better than nothing, because it\u2019s difficult to write an appeal that seems personal (at least from the donor\u2019s perspective) if you write to a huge, amorphous mass. The more you can show your donors you know about them, the better.<\/p>\n<p>However, the real magic trick in segmentation is to <a href=\"https:\/\/agitator.thedonorvoice.com\/the-donor-identity-is-lame\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">segment by donor identity importance<\/a>. For example, I may fall into the general \u201cSuzy Soccer Mom\u201d category by virtue of having a kid who plays soccer. But that may be just a teensy part of my identity. The tip of my iceberg. One teeny tree in my forest. Something I\u00a0<i>do,<\/i> not someone I\u00a0<i>am. <\/i>Maybe I identify with the \u201cmom\u201d part, but perhaps I connect more with being a \u201cworking,\u201d or \u201cgardening,\u201d or \u201ccreative\u201d or \u201cactivist\u201d mom.<\/p>\n<p>Get some tips on <a href=\"https:\/\/agitator.thedonorvoice.com\/brainstorming-donor-identities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">brainstorming donor identities here<\/a>, and on <a href=\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/guide\/beginners-guide-to-nonprofit-data-segmentation\/\">mailing list segmentation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>4. Send a thank you letter or email before your appeal.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This strategy incorporates more of Cialdini\u2019s psychology of influence and persuasion. When you do something nice for others, they\u2019re inclined to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nonprofitpro.com\/post\/9-valuable-shortcuts-influence-nonprofit-donors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reciprocate<\/a>. Plus, a thank you before an ask puts people in a satisfied, generous frame of mind. They\u2019re essentially <a href=\"https:\/\/clairification.com\/2016\/09\/12\/use-psychology-pre-suede-donors-give\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pre-suaded<\/a> to respond positively to your appeal. In fact, the <a href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/5e99b731e7ec45190a6bc6a6\/t\/5ec59003a6524a5dc5eeff44\/1590005764382\/Learning-to-Say-Thank-You_eBook-27122019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy researched this<\/a>, and found in an A\/B test that a group of Planned Parenthood donors who received the extra thank you touch outperformed a similar group who did not \u2013 resulting in a 67% increase in giving! The numbers renewing didn\u2019t change much at all, but <a href=\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/one-simple-method-to-increase-the-results-of-your-next-direct-mail-appeal\/\">the average gift soared<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Try out these four outside the box magic tricks to get unflummoxed!\u00a0 And just in case you\u2019d like to double-check whether you\u2019re engaging in all \u201cthe rules\u201d (as you put it), I cover all the critical elements to consider in my\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.clairification.com\/anatomy-of-a-fundraising-appeal-letter-plus-sample-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anatomy of a Fundraising Appeal Letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Good luck,<\/p>\n<p><i>\u2014 Charity Clairity (<em>Please use a pseudonym if you prefer to be anonymous when you\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bloomerang.formstack.com\/forms\/ask_an_expert\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">submit your own question<\/a>, like \u201cFlummonxed Fundraiser&#8221; did.)<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>How does your organization navigate stock donations? Let us know in the comments.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our\u00a0Ask An Expert\u00a0series features real questions answered by\u00a0Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE, also known as Charity Clairity.\u00a0Today\u2019s question comes from a nonprofit employee who wants advice on improving their year-end appeal:\u00a0\u00a0 Dear Charity Clairity, My boss is totally on my case to make our end-of-year appeal our best ever. I am tearing out my hair, because [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":141685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"cause":[],"article_author":[],"webinar_host":[],"topic":[393,354],"class_list":["post-142299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-ask-an-expert","topic-year-end-fundraising"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>[ASK AN EXPERT] How to increase fundraising appeal response?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This question comes from a nonprofit employee who wants advice on how to improve their year-end fundraising appeal.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When your fundraising appeal is already good, what else can you do to increase response?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This question comes from a nonprofit employee who wants advice on how to improve their year-end fundraising appeal.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bloomerang\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bloomerangtech\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-07T10:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1042\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Claire Axelrad\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CharityClairity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bloomerangtech\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Claire Axelrad\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Claire Axelrad\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ab1b773459a2a4d53264fc80f7df61cf\"},\"headline\":\"When your fundraising appeal is already good, what else can you do to increase response?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-07T10:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1457,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/\",\"name\":\"[ASK AN EXPERT] How to increase fundraising appeal response?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-07T10:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"This question comes from a nonprofit employee who wants advice on how to improve their year-end fundraising appeal.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg\",\"width\":2250,\"height\":1042,\"caption\":\"Ask An Expert\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bloomerang\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bloomerang\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Bloomerang-Logo_Horizontal_RGB_Color.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Bloomerang-Logo_Horizontal_RGB_Color.png\",\"width\":1361,\"height\":240,\"caption\":\"Bloomerang\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/bloomerangtech\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/bloomerangtech\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/bloomerangtech\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/2675499\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/bloomerangco\"],\"description\":\"Bloomerang is more than a fundraising platform, it is a total Giving Platform, an all-in-one fundraising solution with nonprofit CRM, online giving, peer-to-peer campaigns, auctions, and volunteer tools. Bloomerang synchronizes donor data across these nonprofit tools and empowers fundraisers to raise more.\",\"email\":\"info@bloomerang.com\",\"telephone\":\"1-866-332-2999\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"501\",\"maxValue\":\"1000\"},\"address\":{\"@type\":\"PostalAddress\",\"streetAddress\":\"9120 Otis Avenue\",\"addressLocality\":\"Indianapolis\",\"addressRegion\":\"IN\",\"postalCode\":\"46216\",\"addressCountry\":\"US\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ab1b773459a2a4d53264fc80f7df61cf\",\"name\":\"Claire Axelrad\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/Claire-Axelrad_avatar_1517952685-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/Claire-Axelrad_avatar_1517952685-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/Claire-Axelrad_avatar_1517952685-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Claire Axelrad\"},\"description\":\"Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE, will inspire you through her philosophy of philanthropy, not fundraising. After a 30-year development career which earned her the AFP \u201cOutstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year\u201d award, Claire left the trenches to begin her coaching\\\/teaching practice. Clairification School has been called \u201cthe best bargain in fundraising!\u201d Claire is also featured expert and Chief Fundraising Coach for Bloomerang, She\u2019ll be your guide, so you can be your donor\u2019s guide on their philanthropic journey. A member of the California State Bar and graduate of Princeton University, Claire currently resides in San Francisco California. If you like craft fairs, baseball games, art openings, vocal and guitar, and political conversation, you\u2019ll like to hang out with Claire.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/claireaxelrad\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/CharityClairity\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bloomerang.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/claire-axelrad\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"[ASK AN EXPERT] How to increase fundraising appeal response?","description":"This question comes from a nonprofit employee who wants advice on how to improve their year-end fundraising appeal.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When your fundraising appeal is already good, what else can you do to increase response?","og_description":"This question comes from a nonprofit employee who wants advice on how to improve their year-end fundraising appeal.","og_url":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/","og_site_name":"Bloomerang","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bloomerangtech","article_published_time":"2025-11-07T10:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2250,"height":1042,"url":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Claire Axelrad","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CharityClairity","twitter_site":"@bloomerangtech","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Claire Axelrad","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/"},"author":{"name":"Claire Axelrad","@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ab1b773459a2a4d53264fc80f7df61cf"},"headline":"When your fundraising appeal is already good, what else can you do to increase response?","datePublished":"2025-11-07T10:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/"},"wordCount":1457,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/","url":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/","name":"[ASK AN EXPERT] How to increase fundraising appeal response?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-07T10:00:00+00:00","description":"This question comes from a nonprofit employee who wants advice on how to improve their year-end fundraising appeal.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/ask-an-expert-how-to-increase-fundraising-appeal-response\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ask_an_expert_blog.jpg","width":2250,"height":1042,"caption":"Ask An Expert"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/","name":"Bloomerang","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/#organization","name":"Bloomerang","url":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Bloomerang-Logo_Horizontal_RGB_Color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Bloomerang-Logo_Horizontal_RGB_Color.png","width":1361,"height":240,"caption":"Bloomerang"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bloomerangtech","https:\/\/x.com\/bloomerangtech","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bloomerangtech\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2675499","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/bloomerangco"],"description":"Bloomerang is more than a fundraising platform, it is a total Giving Platform, an all-in-one fundraising solution with nonprofit CRM, online giving, peer-to-peer campaigns, auctions, and volunteer tools. Bloomerang synchronizes donor data across these nonprofit tools and empowers fundraisers to raise more.","email":"info@bloomerang.com","telephone":"1-866-332-2999","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"501","maxValue":"1000"},"address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"9120 Otis Avenue","addressLocality":"Indianapolis","addressRegion":"IN","postalCode":"46216","addressCountry":"US"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ab1b773459a2a4d53264fc80f7df61cf","name":"Claire Axelrad","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Claire-Axelrad_avatar_1517952685-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Claire-Axelrad_avatar_1517952685-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Claire-Axelrad_avatar_1517952685-96x96.jpg","caption":"Claire Axelrad"},"description":"Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE, will inspire you through her philosophy of philanthropy, not fundraising. After a 30-year development career which earned her the AFP \u201cOutstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year\u201d award, Claire left the trenches to begin her coaching\/teaching practice. Clairification School has been called \u201cthe best bargain in fundraising!\u201d Claire is also featured expert and Chief Fundraising Coach for Bloomerang, She\u2019ll be your guide, so you can be your donor\u2019s guide on their philanthropic journey. A member of the California State Bar and graduate of Princeton University, Claire currently resides in San Francisco California. If you like craft fairs, baseball games, art openings, vocal and guitar, and political conversation, you\u2019ll like to hang out with Claire.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/claireaxelrad","https:\/\/x.com\/CharityClairity"],"url":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/blog\/author\/claire-axelrad\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142299"},{"taxonomy":"cause","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cause?post=142299"},{"taxonomy":"article_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_author?post=142299"},{"taxonomy":"webinar_host","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/webinar_host?post=142299"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=142299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}