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Does this confuse you too?
Something that comes up regularly for my nonprofit directors is receiving quality image files and knowing which file format to use when. When I started my career as in-house graphics at The Metropolitan Opera, it was simpler. The images were for printing, there was...
What I learned from AFP’s Fundraising Day
AFP’s Fundraising Day was a treasure trove of information. I sat in four different tracks to glean as broad of view as I could. Here’s what I learned: Direct Mail: There was a 22% higher response rate when they bumped the letter font size to 15pt versus 12pt, (it made...
How is your non-profit including people with disabilities?
I read an interesting article in The NonProfit Times recently; it was on how non-profits haven’t been very good at including people with disabilities. The study titled: “Disability in Philanthropy & Nonprofits: A Study on the Inclusion and Exclusion of the 1-in-5...
How readable is your message?
Readability [ree-duh-bil-i-tee]The state or quality of being readable. Typography. The property of type that affects the ease with which printed matter can be read for a sustained period. Legibility [lej-uh-bil-i-tee]Also leg·i·ble·ness. The state or quality of being...
Three Takeaways from The Ask
I came across The Ask and found it insightful. It was published back in 2017, so you may have read it. Laura Fredricks is well known in the development world, and I think this should be mandatory reading for all your nonprofit board members. I liked it so...
Are You Ready for #GivingTuesday?
I was reviewing stats and ideas for #GivingTuesday and here are 3 doable tips for your campaign. And check out their toolkit here. Get 100% from Every Gift: Make sure your giving form allows each donor to cover the small fee associated with processing a gift. I know...
USPS Proposal Could Impact Nonprofit Premiums
I was reading an article discussing that your mailing costs may be going up when you send your donors' non-paper premiums. For the full article, check it out here. The nonprofit community can comment on the proposal through Oct. 22. Comments and questions...
Is your site HTTPS secure?
Over the past couple of years, Google started ranking "HTTPS" sites higher than regular "HTTP" sites in non-branded searches. Then in September, Google announced: "Beginning in January 2017 (Chrome 56), we’ll mark HTTP pages that collect passwords or credit cards as...
Is your marketing material accessible for all?
I was re-reading an article on building accessible emails, it talked about designing smart emails so audiences of all abilities can read it, see the link to the whole article here. Coming from the print world originally, and having had a color...
Is it time for a style guide?
Lately, several of my clients have been considering either rebranding or having a branding guide built out for their organizations. What’s the difference? Rebranding can be updating your logo mark and/or additionally reviewing your positioning...
From websites to direct mail
This month I want to talk about my creative services to you. I’ve had a couple of people recently ask if I create websites and even invitations. The answer is YES! Don’t let my size fool you. I am a smart, nimble, creative services contractor. I size according to the...
Please do not use MS Word to design for print
Greetings! This month I want to talk about quality. Designing in MS Word is not ideal for going on press. I bring this up because I was called in to rescue a job created this way. Quality matters. I can’t stress this enough. Why would you pay a lot of money to print...
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