Learning how to write an effective direct mail and email appeal is the best basic training you can get in fundraising. This 1.5 hour heavily-illustrated mega-webinar will teach you about offers, expectations, grabbing attention, emotional triggers ... and so much more. PLUS: Fundraising copywriting guru Jeff Brooks will be our special guest expert for your All-You-Can-Eat Q&A session. More on Jeff and the Q&A in a bit...

What is Tom Ahern's $129 September 12, 2024 mega-webinar REALLY about? Direct mail + email appeals ... just in time for your fevered year-end fundraising efforts.

How do you know this webinar about successful fundraising (digital and print) appeals is timely for your organization?

Here's a clue: If your year-end results in 2023 disappointed you (your boss, your board), then, yes, some investment in training is definitely worth your nonprofit's consideration.

Or, maybe your year-end 2023 revenue was good, but you want to tweak your appeal to have even better results.

In 2024, don't guess ... KNOW what's what. Learn the best basics for appeal writing ... how the pros implement them with impactful flair ... and how you can reach for the sky and soar!

Just one of many testimonials: "I learned everything ... from Tom Ahern. [And] with [his] changes ... we raised twice as much with our Christmas appeal [then we'd] ever had in the past...." ~ Australian charity, March 2020.

• Memo to all charities in 2024: Direct mail appeals, companion email appeals, complementary social posts, even phone calls from board members to new donors ... they all work together to produce your charity's biggest year-end return. >> Heck, because we dip into the psychology of donors, you might even learn something at this $129 mega-webinar that will boost your results on Giving Tuesday; @ your gala; even in an elevator!

FAQ: "My boss thinks direct mail fundraising is probably dead. Is he right?"

Well, your boss' opinion is always worth listening to (job security).

But is your boss really right? What's today's data actually say?

Direct mail fundraising in 2024 continues to be the biggest contributor of "mission fuel" to the budgets of many, if not most, nonprofit organizations in the U.S., Canada, etc.

It is also how most nonprofits attract first-time donors who later go on to become MAJOR donors. “...when we review the data, the source of a majority of major donors came through a direct-response mail appeal where they gave a [first-time] gift of $25!” Richard Perry, Veritus Group, reported in 2020.

When the Internet started to become "a thing" in people's daily lives, a reasonable-sounding rumor soon spread amongst smaller nonprofits that direct mail would die, forced out by digital fundraising.

Didn't happen. The Internet turned out to be just another messaging channel. These days, direct mail works hand-in-hand with digital to raise the bucks that keep your mission healthy.

FAQ: "We're not that big! Is this webinar suited to MY local/regional organization?"

This webinar was developed over a decade for small-to-midsize and local charities, to explain what the big, direct-mail-dependent charities with hundreds of thousands of donors have discovered and practice.

This webinar introduces local charities with limited budgets and smaller staffs to the BASICS of direct mail and (now) e-appeals. It also openly shares "insider" tricks that help big-charity pros consistently produce above-average response.

This webinar teaches the important core principles of writing a successful direct-mail annual appeal ... scaled down to causes with modest-sized audiences (hundreds to low thousands to a few tens of thousands).

In fact [the very GOOD news], LOCAL causes have a distinct advantage in 2024's over-crowded mailbox/in-box.

FAQ: "Are the direct mail principles I'll learn here guaranteed?"

Wish we could ... but nope. See: you're going to write your appeals; not us. And when you do that, you'll find yourself in a strange new world, writing in a way that can seem unsettling at first.

A common lament from newbie attendees who put these secret principles to work for the first time: "My boss thinks my new appeal is too cheesy!" Spoiler alert: one of the core rules you'll learn is this: “Ugly works. Tacky works. Corny, embarrassing, and messy all work. In print, or in digital." [... as direct-mail grand-master, Jeff Brooks, insists.]

If you apply what you learn (and your bosses let it go to print unscathed), you'll boost your chances of best-year-end-ever fundraising by a gorgeous country mile!

FAQ: "Do I have to attend 'the day of'? I'm in a WAY different time zone, on the other side of the planet."

We typically have attendees from time zones around the world. Please be assured: this webinar is fully recorded ... including the ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT Q&A (which can run on and on). 

We're adding another expert practitioner to the all-you-can-eat Q&A mix:  Jeff Brooks! Jeff is a fundraising author, speaker, trainer, musician, and generous human ... and he's at your service during Q&A!!! 🤩

You have a question? Jeff Brooks will answer. As will Julie Cooper. As will Tom Ahern.

If you can't for some reason attend the "day of," you can listen later when you're ready. You'll have 2 months of access to the webinar resources ... and you can even download all of them right away -- including the video -- for your own learning. (You'll also get everything in audio file format. Maybe take a hike and listen as a podcast?)

FAQ: "What's our return on investment look like?"

US$129 is your risk factor. That's your charity's entire investment: spending $129 ... for a multi-expert ride that's been decades and continents in the making. And updated yearly with new examples.

Will you make that $129 back (maybe many times over) in your first appeal attempt ... and for years to come?

Again, no promises: it depends heavily on how well you navigate 3 controllable key factors (which you will learn about during the mega-webinar).

STILL, here's our qualified guarantee: Assuming you apply these principles ADEQUATELY ... you'll make your money back ... and maybe much more! Let me repeat: you do NOT have to be GREAT at execution. ADEQUATE attention to detail is fine.

 >>> P.S. You can learn in 90 minutes what all ambitious, successful fundraisers need to know to make their appeals work far better. For $129 you'll sit in on an expert session unique on earth ... ask all the questions you care to ... then receive a recording ... and a handout you'll refer to for years.

Some good news on pricing, by the way: it's cheaper by the dozen.

You just need to buy one link to this webinar (i.e., one registration per computer.) If you want then to project that one link up on a big screen in front of your entire team: tens, scores, hundreds? Good for YOU!!! Many AFP chapters have done the same.

Which means, if you want to throw Tom Ahern's webinar up on a BIG screen (as Memphis did in January, 2024) and invite all the fundraising pros you know ... be our guest! 

(Recommendation for best attendance [not provided with your registration]: Soft drinks, light snacks, smiles, hugs, a welcome mat at the door.)

Here's what an AFP chapter leader wrote to Tom after attending his webby on appeals!

• Once more ... is this super-sized webinar JUST for smaller nonprofits? Absolutely not! We work with some of the biggest nonprofit brands in North America. So ... if you have a big target audience, come on in! The same guidelines and tips WILL apply ... and even biggies will likely raise more money!

Date of delivery? Thursday, September 12, 2024

 Time? 1 PM - 2:30 PM Eastern (All-You-Can-Eat Q&A comes after)

Trainer? Tom Ahern

And who might that be? "Tom Ahern is possibly the greatest non-profit copywriter on the planet." UK legacy guru Richard Radcliffe wrote in May 2021 / “Tom Ahern … is one of the country’s most sought-after creators of fund-raising messages.” The New York Times, Nov. 2016

Will this expert's appeals webinar be offered again in 2024? No. While updated frequently, it's offered as a webinar just once each year.

What's on the menu?
This 1.5 hour heavily-illustrated super-sized webinar (+ unlimited Q&A) will teach you about high-level fundamentals such as....

✔️ offers
✔️ grabbing attention (job #1: postal and digital)
✔️ reliable emotional triggers
✔️ direct mail ABCs
✔️ mental nods (discovered in Germany in the 1980s)
✔️ eye-motion awareness 101
✔️ a well-tested formula for an e-appeal
✔️ an in-depth intro to the amazing Jerry H.
✔️ the special value of "local"
✔️ passing pre-flight safeguards like "the 3-second test"
✔️ the all-important "virtuous circle of donors comms"
✔️ reasonable expectations (you'll need those to keep your bosses in check)

✔️ ... and so much more!

One last collegial kick in the pants? You will apply the principles you'll learn (or revisit) this day THROUGHOUT your career ... whether you're writing your 2024 year-end appeal ... or your next one in 2025 ... or confidently conducting face-to-face solicitations for a capital campaign ... or, or, or. This is the good stuff, based in experience and neuroscience.

SAVE YOUR SEAT NOW

Special Offer to All Registrants:

Our UNIQUE All-You-Can-Eat Q&A: You'll have all your questions answered. We've had Q&As go on for well over 2 hours AFTER the presentation finished ... answered joyfully by Tom and our experts* (unless we didn't know a good answer, which happens from time to time). 

For this webinar, copywriter, author, speaker, and thought leader Jeff Brooks is our guest expert! So get your year-end appeal questions ready, and type them into the Q&A box during the presentation.

Jeff Brooks says...

"Real fundraising isn't bragging about how awesome your organization is. Nor is it trying to educate your donors about your superb processes and approach.

Real fundraising, the kind that changes the world, connects your cause with the donor's values and puts some action in her hands.

Okay, I wasn't the first to figure that out. Frankly, I was late to the game. But that bit of insight has been the foundation of my approach ever since."

What attendees said about Tom's webinars ...

🔴  "I got so much value from your session. That was a Q&A to end all Q&As!! Love your work."

🔴  "Tom’s webinar taught me more than anything else I’ve learned in the five years I’ve been fundraising."

🔴  "Fantastic presentation, Tom!"

🔴  "Thanks for yet another great webinar yesterday. I had to leave just as the Q/A started, which makes me especially grateful for the recording. Thanks for all you teach and all you offer to me and so many others. Thank you for leading the way into a more loving world."
 

🔴  "This was an exceptionally good webinar—stuffed full of excellent content. I appreciate as well how generous Tom was with his time in answering questions from attendees. The questions elicited a bounty of additional insights." 

🔴  "So grateful to share this time and energy with you. YOU make my path easier and more lovely."

🔴 "You are all awesome. Thanks for your wisdom!"

🔴  "I ALWAYS learn something new with these webinars. Thanks for another great session! As always!"

🔴  "So many good tidbits and tons of illustrations."

🔴  "I always love the examples he shows."

🔴  "I'm a veteran communication designer but very new to fundraising. I found every bit of your webinar super informational and super actionable.

🔴  "So helpful to see examples of great work by other nonprofits."

🔴  "I found it all very helpful."

🔴 "Great webinar! Thank you for the inspiration, knowledge and wisdom! All the best."

🔴  "Outstanding and extremely beneficial."

🔴  "Webinar was exactly what I thought it would be, in a good way."

🔴  "I was very happy with what I learned."

🔴  "I really enjoyed the Q&A session at the end. It's long but I feel like other people bring up questions I wouldn't necessarily think to answer and get to glean the knowledge from the answers."

🔴  "This webinar was amazingly helpful. Thank you again for 'bringing it!'"

🔴  "Tom is awesome!!! I always learn so much from him."

🔴  "We are blessed to have you as a resource!"

🔴  "Thank you for the great webinar!"

🔴  "They’re fired up now. We projected your webinar and invited the gang. Best money EVER spent."