Welcome to the Donor Doctor with your host James Newberry. On today’s show, James interviews Bruce Eberle – Reagan Fundraiser – $ Billion Dollar Man.
Engineer to Fundraiser
Bruce began his career with Gulf Oil as an engineer working in a refinery. He was also involved with Young American’s of Freedom and the Youth for Goldwater Miller in 1964. He found a the time he could handle the organizational aspect those movements but could not succeed at fundraising and it really frustrated him.
To succeed, Bruce sought out people that had been successful at raising money. As he got better with the tips he received from the likes of Richard Viguerie, Bruce was asked to help with the Stop National Student Association and Students for the National Prayer Movement campaigns out of Houston.
Timing Was Key in Reagan Campaign
Bruce sent out a fundraising letter for Ronald Reagan that coincided with his famous speech in North Carolina. That one letter in his bid against Gerald Ford brought in 75,000 donors and $884,000! That’s more than $10 net per name.
During that campaign, Bruce’s fundraising efforts brought in $7 million. If you compare that to today’s economy, that’s about $40 million!
Reagan Presidential Library
The initial direct mail fundraising campaign for President Reagan’s Presidential Library had brought in about 22,000 donors. Bruce was brought in and they were able to segregate the donors and just their test campaign improved on that number greatly.
Bruce the Author
Bruce has written books on direct mail. The best is they are very easy to comprehend even if you don’t know a lot about direct mail.
To hear the rest of Bruce’s successful plans for fundraising, download and listen to Bruce Eberle – Reagan Fundraiser – $ Billion Dollar Man.
If you’re short on time, here are the highlights of Bruce Eberle – Reagan Fundraiser – $ Billion Dollar Man:
Who is Bruce Eberle? (0:19)
$884,000 raised with one letter? (2:15)
Reagan’s library (2:55)
What does Bruce say about diversification? (6:38)
What mistakes does Bruce see? (10:00)
Long copy vs short copy (14:25)
What does Bruce say about monopoly charities? (17:15)
What is the bounce back technique? (18:45)
