Special direct mail clinic – The one with Mike Duerksen (on undesignated gifts!)
The next guest to visit John Lepp for a special direct mail clinic is Canadian fundraiser Mike Duerksen. In this episode, Mike hones in on a very important topic for fundraisers… how to secure undesignated or unrestricted funds.
- Written by
- Carolina Herrera
- Added
- February 01, 2025
‘We need to raise more undesignated funds.’
Yep, that’s a phrase many fundraisers are familiar with. You’ve probably heard it more times than you’d like to admit... and it probably causes your heart rate to rise as soon as it echoes around the board room.
Because, let’s be honest, it’s much easier to ask your donor to give a gift towards a specific item, person, project or campaign than it is to ask for a donation to be spent on ‘our wider work’.
Fortunately, the AOG direct mail clinics are here to help!
In this 15-minute clinic Mike Duerksen shows you how to get around this problem in a very simple way – by changing the words you use. And best of all, Mike’s solution not only works, it’s also completely free for you to try in your next appeal!
Watch the video below and Mike will explain the three key requirements you need to include on your donation form or website in order to raise more undesignated gifts from your donors this year.
And remember, you don’t have to explain your complicated funding structure to your donor – you just need to carefully consider the language you use when you ask for their kind, much-needed gift.
*Editor’s note: In the UK, we generally refer to undesignated funds as unrestricted funds.
John Lepp (he/him) is a fundraiser, designer and donor champion with more than 20 years of experience working with charities across Canada and around the world. As partner at Agents of Good, he helps charities tell stories that inspire donors to give, both online and offline. John is a respected and coveted international speaker who has travelled the world encouraging fundraisers be more human and vulnerable with those other amazing humans we call donors.
His latest book, Creative Deviations offers plenty of tips for how fundraisers can infuse their storytelling, fundraising and direct response with more creativity.
