Seven Fundraising Myths
Mal Warwick has made my blogging job easy today. I shamelessly admit it.
Mal's latest newsletter (DEC) contains two “must read” articles.
First, guest contributor Bob Knight (runs a direct marketing agency) posits seven precepts of (mostly) direct mail fundraising and takes his shots at them.
Here are what Bob calls myths:
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The list is everything.
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The more you tell, the more you sell.
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Positives work better than negatives.
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The tighter the copy, the better the copy.
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Four-color packages don't work in fundraising.
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It worked for them; it will work for us.
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Don't repeat an approach that failed for you before.
Then Mal gives his riposte on each principle.
Very cogent insights; very concisely presented.
I'm with Mal … if you're going to re-examine long-established direct mail guidelines (and there's nothing wrong with challenging the past), you're probably wiser to think in terms of fine-tuning them, rather than casting them aside.
Tom
Behavioral Science Q & A
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