Episode Summary

Most nonprofit communications are, in Tom Ahern’s blunt assessment, built to fail. Not because the work isn’t worthy, but because organizations keep writing about themselves when they should be writing for the donor. In episode #366, Patton sits down with Tom Ahern, founder of Ahern Communications, Inc. and one of the most influential voices in fundraising copywriting, to unpack why so many appeals, newsletters, and annual reports fall flat. Drawing on decades of commercial copywriting experience before he “wandered into” the nonprofit sector, Tom walks listeners through the three questions every case for support must answer (Why us? Why now? Why you, the donor?) and explains why urgency without desperation, emotion over information, and a relentless focus on the reader are the difference between a gift and a pass. He shares a remarkable story of a Boys & Girls Club that owned a million-dollar crisis and came back stronger, makes the case that donors are already 99% of the way there, and offers a clear-eyed take on what AI can and cannot do for fundraising writers. Listeners will leave with a practical framework they can apply to their next appeal this week, a sharper understanding of donor psychology, and permission to stop trying to inform their way to a gift.

About Tom Ahern

Tom Ahern is the founder of Ahern Communications, Inc. and one of the leading voices in donor communications and fundraising copywriting. His clients have ranged from Save the Children US and Catholic Relief Services to the Animal Rescue League of Boston, Boston Children’s Hospital, the Anchorage Museum, and universities including Princeton, Carleton, and the University of Saskatchewan. He came to the nonprofit sector after fifteen years as a commercial copywriter, led, as he puts it, by an angel: his wife Simone, a longtime development professional and consultant. Since then he has coached fundraisers on best practices in appeals, newsletters, and cases for support, led communications audits (he prefers to call them “autopsies”), and trained nonprofit teams on four continents. Tom is the author of eight how-to books on donor communications, each rated 4.5 stars or higher on Amazon, and a sought-after faculty member for masterclasses and webinars. These days he volunteers most of his coaching hours for small and mid-sized charities, and still keeps Jerry Weissman’s book on his desk, the spine sun-bleached from daily use.

Resources

Connect with Tom on LinkedIn

• Learn more at Ahern Communications
• Tom’s case-for-support framework: Why us? Why now? Why you, the donor?
• Book recommendation: Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story by Jerry Weissman
• Tom’s books on donor communications, including Keep Your Donors (co-authored with Simone Joyaux), available on Amazon
• Follow Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, and please leave a review!
• Learn more about our leadership resources