The Denny Hatch archive

Denny Hatch isn’t a fundraiser. He’s an author, former businessman and army veteran. But with his expertise of marketing and advertising, his opinions and thoughts will be a treasure trove of knowledge that fundraisers can draw upon to make their campaigns better and more appealing to donors. We are incredibly grateful to Denny for letting us reproduce his wealth of blogposts on SOFII. 

From friend of SOFII Roger Craver: 

‘My Personal Pantheon of Great Fundraising Creative Curmudgeons is currently limited to three. (Those offended by not being included — yet — are simply too young). My three: Jerry Huntsinger, the late George Smith and Denny Hatch.

Why Denny Hatch?  Because he’s not only a great copywriter, he’s a great copywriter with a penchant for analysis, the ability to deliver that analysis based on 40 years’ experience and the detailed review of literally tens of thousands of direct mail packages.

Denny’s analysis is far from dull. It’s both truthful and inspiring. No wonder in commenting on Denny’s classic Million Dollar Mailings: the art and science of creating money-making direct mail exclaimed, "This remarkable book has inspired me to revive my life-long crusade to extricate the direct mail fraternity from the ghetto to which they have always been confined by the advertising generalists."

For 30 years my friend Denny monitored the testing and rollout of thousands of direct mail packages –including fundraising appeals—through his unique service Who’s Mailing What? Tracking, archiving and sharing winning control packages across the commercial and nonprofit sectors.

Good copy is not like this year’s latest fashion. Rather, it reflects in a proven and effective way the message and values that have motivated donors and triggered responses year after year.  So, as Denny often reminded me, when someone in the office says, “We’ve already used that, let’s get something new”, remember there’s not a single donor out there who says, “Oh, here’s that same old year-end appeal.”

If you want to know whether to treasure or trash a piece of copy or an entire package, the best advice I can give is “learn from Denny Hatch” and you won’t go wrong.’

Roger Craver, Editor, The Agitator

Welcome to the Denny Hatch Archive!

800-year-old direct marketing knowhow, alive and well in the 21st Century

by Denny Hatch

Fundraisers, Denny Hatch reminds you to ‘steal smart!’. It’s just one of his takeaways from this incredible story of the Crystal Cathedral in California and the way it cleverly took cues from an appeal made 800 years earlier.

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Direct marketing copy and the amazing power of fear

by Denny Hatch

Can fear be a primary motivating factor in direct mail? Denny Hatch certainly thinks so. In this blog Denny not only explains why, he also illustrates the point by analysing two remarkable letters.

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Two of the greatest fundraising letters ever written

by Denny Hatch

In this fascinating article, marketing giant Denny Hatch presents two of the greatest fundraising letters of all time, and explains the complex, sometimes murky, story of how they came about.

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Denny Hatch’s ULTIMATE 85-POINT MARKETEER’S CHECKLIST

by Denny Hatch

Denny Hatch brings us an extraordinary checklist that everyone involved in fundraising and marketing communication should run through before putting pen to paper.

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The most successful advertisement in the history of the world

by Denny Hatch

What is the most successful advertisement ever? Legendary marketing expert Denny Hatch tells all and there’s so much fundraisers can learn from this.

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