Nonprofit Case Study: How Visual Clarity Unlocked a $2 Million Major Gift
A few years back, my team designed an infographic for a nonprofit mailer. The infographic attempted to explain a complex process the organization was convinced they’d already thoroughly conveyed to their donors. They’d explained it. Donors “knew it already.”
Based on the complexity of the topic, our team had doubts. We designed an infographic to break it down visually. The infographic printed. Delivered. Then, the phone rang.
A longtime donor called our client to say that the infographic had helped him finally understand fully, to a degree that gave him confidence to give much more freely. The conversation ended with him committing to a $2 million donation.
Direct Mail Marketing in 2026: Why It Still Works (and How to Get High ROI)
Make direct mail a part of your marketing ecosystem. Here’s what you may not already know about direct mail in 2026:
Personalization and Relevance: Received postcards that have your name included in the text? That’s nice (and one study showed that it can increase the response rate by 135%), but we can go light years beyond names. We can tailor offers based on data (e.g., past purchases or location, age of the audience, whether or not they have children, etc.) We can vary the images in the mail based on the audience, too. These tools can be powerful in the hands of a strategic marketing team…
The Hidden Cost of a Broad Target Audience in Brand Strategy
If there’s one scenario I get all the time, it’s this: Clients come to me with a list of goals and a “target audience” that completely lacks a “target.” Their ambitions are boundless. I’ve been told that the ideal demographic for a certain brand is specifically females “from elementary school to professional age,” or “men and women of all ages.”
It’s understandable why organizations talk this way. No one wants to scratch an audience from their potential customer list. It feels limiting—and it is. But the urge to cast a wide net may ultimately cause your organization to lose out in a way that is far more dangerous to your bottomline.
I don’t mean to bash this “wide net” impulse entirely. If you’re passionate about your business and understand its remarkable qualities, you naturally want to bring your goods or services to as many people as possible. This is the passion that fuels your business. It’s wonderful. It’s irreplaceable. Your business needs a visionary at the helm.