Carol Pollack from Planning and Endowment Consulting had a great idea to add to yesterday’s post
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Archive for the ‘Direct Marketing’ Category
Another idea to think about before you write your fundraising copy
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013Before you begin to write your fundraising copy, print this out
Saturday, April 27th, 2013
It’s Mildred not Millie!!
Sunday, October 28th, 2012
Face it… you are not her friend. You don’t want to be her friend. And she doesn’t want you to be her friend.
Yes, you work for an organization that she may love because it empowers her. Your organization can do what she cannot do on her own. You can feed the poor for her. You can deliver clean drinking water to impoverished nations for her. Or you can cure a disease for her.
You help her to help others. She believes in your ability to do that. And that’s why she gives.
But she deserves your respect. Her name is Mildred. Not Millie!! Her friends call her Millie. And, although you work together to help others, you are not her friend.
She cares about several causes. And, if you annoy her, she’ll give to another organization. Perhaps even a competitor. Ah yes! Let’s not forget… there is competition in fundraising.
So, when you write to Mildred asking for money, you better get her name right. Because getting it wrong is downright disrespectful. But even worse, getting it wrong shows incompetence— which breeds distrust. And distrust is the beginning of the end of your relationship together.
The 80/20 rule still applies… if you’ll apply it.
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012In commercial business, we call it the 80/20 rule.
80% of your revenue and/or profits will come from 20% of your clients.
It’s the same in fundraising. As long as you communicate with your donors, you’ll get more revenue from them.
Most non-profits spend a ton of money on acquisition when it’s really the core segments of your database that will deliver the greatest returns for your marketing dollars— especially in the form of planned gifts.
- Communicate with donors.
- Remind them about their giving frequency (because most people forget how often they really give).
- Tell them what you’ve done with their money.
- Let them know you couldn’t have done it with out them.
- Clearly outline why you still need their help.
- Be specific.
- Break it down (i.e.- “Just $19 could feed a family for a week.”).
- Be respectful but ask for the gift.
13 stages of the consideration / evaluation process for making a planned gift
Monday, May 28th, 2012- Prospective donor buys into your mission
- Has a clear understanding of the future needs of your organization
- Sees the organization as a good investment because you manage funds well
- Willing to support the needs of the organization
- Understands what a planned gift is and how it works
- Realizes that they can make a planned gift
- Is clearly asked for the gift
- Consults with advisers and/or family to garner support and counsel
- Has all objections and concerns answered thoroughly
- Makes the gift
- Alerts the organization they have made a gift
- Gets thanked and recognized based on how they want to be thanked
- Considers whether to keep the gift in their plans and increase the size of it (or remove it from their plans)
Now you can determine where each of your prospects are in the consideration and evaluation process. Once done, you should send them the relevant communications that would make sense to them at that particular stage in order to move them forward.
Postcards get one more breathe of life for direct mail marketing.
Sunday, March 25th, 2012Why not create some postcards in bulk to save money and keep your marketing schedule consistent and on-track all year long?
Every Door Direct Mail from the U.S. Postal Service
While postcards are a form of direct mail, they are cheaper to produce and mail than full-blown direct mail packages or sales letters, and they are great for generating leads.
You can use them to drive traffic to your website or to a phone number to promote your offer. They are also a great way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. We suggest you create 3-5 key messages emphasizing your unique selling points and competitive advantages. Then design and print them all at once dropping them in the mail every few weeks or so.
That will build awareness in a turnkey fashion. Create the plan once and just let it run all year long.
Plus, now you can get the postage down to about 18 cents each if you use the Post Office’s new service called Every Door Direct Mail. You’d have to deliver to every address on a route or in a zip code. But for many businesses, that’s exactly what is needed to flood a targeted geographic market with consistent offers, branding and reminders.
Direct mail still has a place in marketing
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012Although direct mail requires printing and postage, I have to say that… if it’s done right… it’s still one of the most effective marketing media channels ever. Don’t discount the traditional methods! MarketSmart has generated millions of dollars for clients with direct mail.
But you have to be smart with it. Make sure your list is segmented. Personalize your message for each recipient to make it as relevant as possible. Combine direct mail with an Internet landing page. Drive respondents online for more information – then give them opportunities to convert into leads by filling out forms to take advantage of your offer.
Ahhh. The offer! Don’t forget that part. You MUST have a great offer!!
And remember, if you don’t send highly targeted, relevant offers and information to your prospects…. it’s just “junk mail”.
Be strategic. Use your data to send the right person, the right offer, at the right time and direct mail will deliver an exponential return on your investment.
What’s the response rate?
Monday, March 19th, 2012I hear that question a lot in lead generation marketing, planned giving marketing, sponsorship marketing and just about any other kind of marketing you can name.
Sorry folks. But usually if you ask that question it means you don’t have any business doing marketing at all.
The response rate really doesn’t matter.
I don’t care about response rates. Rather, I care about a return on your investment.
Suppose every time you and I work on a marketing campaign together our efforts only garner one response. And suppose that reflects a miserable response rate of .0001%. But every single time we run the campaign you generate $100,000 in profit from that single response.
Would you care that the response rate is just .0001%? I doubt it.
So don’t get all caught up in response rates unless they mean something to you. Otherwise, concentrate on your return on investment and your profits. That’s where it counts.
3 ways to use direct mail effectively in the age of social media
Friday, February 24th, 2012Although direct mail requires printing and postage, we still include it in our marketing plans because it can be effective if you do it right. Don’t discount the traditional methods. MarketSmart has generated millions of dollars for clients with direct mail.
Combine online and offline channels.
Often it is best to combine direct mail with an Internet landing page. Drive respondents online for more information – then give them opportunities to convert into leads.
Be relevant and timely.
It’s all about THEM. To improve your response rate, you must send highly targeted, relevant offers and information to your prospects. Otherwise, it’s just “junk mail”.
If you use your data to send the right person, the right offer, at the right time, direct mail will deliver an exponential return on your investment.
Finding the time to do it right may be difficult but the rewards are exponentially better.
For “nurturing efforts”… Create some postcards in bulk
While small postcards are a form of direct mail, they are cheaper to produce and deliver than full-blown direct mail packages or sales letters, and they are great for generating leads.
You can use them to build awareness over time (with repetitive “drip” marketing”), drive traffic to your website or to promote a special offer.
Postcards are also a great way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. We suggest you create 3-5 key messages emphasizing your unique selling points and competitive advantages. Then design and print them all at once to gain economies of scale and save money. Next, drop them in the mail every few weeks or so. Make sure your list is a good one that includes people you know want to hear from you such as: frequent customers, repeat visitors, loyal donors, etc.
That will build awareness and generate activity for you in a turnkey fashion. Create the plan once and just let it run all year long.
Get more bang for your direct mail buck
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012Add relevance and a personalized URL
Yes, I’m talking about personalization. Direct mail works best when it is relevant. So we recommend you send targeted messages to each person based on their preferences.
Say you have 612 people in your database who like red boats and 410 who like blue boats. Send the 612 an offer for a red boat– “Special Sale on RED Boats Ends in 7 Days!!” And of course, the 410 should get a message for a blue boat.
We also suggest you ask your prospects to respond using a unique, personalized web page created for each individual target.
For instance: “Special Sale on RED Boats Ends in 7 Days!!! Go to www.gregwarner.redboatsale.com for Deep Discounts!”
You can use each prospect’s name as the anchor and some nifty technology to create 612 unique landing pages for each person who likes red boats and 410 unique landing pages for each person who likes blue boats.
That way, when they arrive at the page, their name will appear. But even better, the unique web pages will show them their favorite colored boat.
And best of all, you will be able to see who logged on (name, address, phone number) since the personalized urls will have been created from your original database. So you will be able to track each individual visitor.
That way you know who visited, when, where they clicked and what their interests are. For bigger ticket items, this is great information for your sales force so they can follow-up armed with information
