The “CRYSTAL BALL” for Your Agency

How am I doing? This is a good question to ask about your direct mail yearly campaign. That’s right, I am calling it a yearly campaign. A good campaign needs to reach out to your donor base a minimum of 4 times per year.

Some of you are going to tell me that your constituency is unique – they don’t like direct mail and they certainly don’t like receiving 4 separate pieces of mail a year. Well, the numbers say that just isn’t true.

First, a person needs to read something at least 4 times before they begin to retain it. So, if your organization is speaking to your donors only once or twice a year – it simply isn’t enough. Remember, you are speaking to your donor or potential donor every time you communicate with them. So, if you send a newsletter, quarterly program updates, etc., count those communications toward your goal of “speaking with your donor” five times a year.

Always remember direct mail works. And each and every non-profit organization needs what it brings in. Not just money, but new donors. For us, identifying new donors is a major reason for a direct mail campaign.

A solid organization is built around the giving pyramid. Even a non-profit that is focused on programming will some day need to raise unrestricted money – and that will mean focusing on the “giving pyramid.”

The most important part of the “giving pyramid” is the base or foundation. As you will see from the pyramid - the base consists of the “new donor” or “yearly donor” who gives $25.00 or under. It is this base that you will work to move up the giving pyramid.

So, question number one: what does the base of your pyramid look like? How much time and money have you allotted to this portion of the pyramid? Remember, this is the most important part of your agency – without a strong base you cannot build and/or secure an ongoing giving growth.

We are defining the initial level on the giving pyramid as donors who, on a yearly basis, give $25 or less. How do we find these “new” donors and how do we communicate with them? Good question!

It will be important that direct mail show as its own line in your development budget. You may also need to educate your development committee and potentially your Board of Directors that for the first few years direct mail will not show a positive cash flow.

Let’s look at why. For you to identify potential first time donors you will probably have to go outside your organization to find these people.

Even though it will seem too expensive, the most efficient way to secure a “good” list is to buy it. You work with a list broker on identifying potential lists that will meet your criteria. You will base your criteria on your mission and/or the focus of your letter.

No matter what the overall organization mission may be, if your letter is going to focus on one specific program, i.e. education, children, disease, etc. then you will want a list that shows people with an affinity to the letter topic.

A good direct mail campaign that is reaching out to new potential donors is often called a “cold” mailing. A good return from a “cold” mailing averages between 1.5% to 2% - so you will need to send a significant number of pieces to have an impact on the lower category of your giving pyramid. For example: If you mailed 10,000 pieces and received a 1.5% return – with an average donation of $15 you would receive 1500 pieces of mail which would equal $22,500. Now, $22,000 sounds nice – but the truth is you will spend at minimum half that amount on the list, printing and postage.

But remember, the focus of this campaign for the first three years is not income but new donors and securing the lower tier of the giving pyramid.

Don’t use this campaign as an immediate source of revenue. This is an investment into the future and if you decide this is right for you – the results will speak for themselves.

-GIVING PYRAMID DIAGRAM-

Giving Until It Hurts!!

We are moving into a new environment for giving. We have had to raise money for our organization and try to keep our organization out in front of the public in spite of the national disasters and armed conflicts that seem to be part of our daily lives.

When I first started in this field we were taught that each person had an opportunity to give “away” one dollar each year – now our work is to present our message and our need in such a way as to move the donor to give a portion of that “giving dollar” to our organization.

You and I, as professionals, cannot blame the environment or the world around us for not meeting our financial direct mail goals. If we haven’t met goal that means we haven’t…

• packaged our story strongly enough
• updated our package
• spoken to our donors without asking for money
• said thank you enough
• looked for new donors.

So we are at a point when the “old way” just isn’t working anymore. We must revisit how we are raising money. Is your process working and has your message changed?

As you are looking at your direct mail message, please remember that the message needs to be important to the people you are sending it to. Remember that the most important component of your direct mail campaign is your mailing list.

Where can you look for potential donors for your mailing list? What about your consumers/clients, consumer/clients families, vendors and fundraising participants? Also you might want to include your local service organizations and members of your local chambers.

We know that the average rate of return on an acquisition mailing (looking for new donors) is 1.5% - 2% and that the average donation is between $15 to $20. With this information you will need to revisit your development budget to see what each of your mailings is budgeted to raise.

When you have identified the number of pieces you will need to mail to potential donors you will then need to work closely with a list broker on identifying the list that will work best for your organization. For example, what age are you looking for, what are their giving patterns (give only to diseases, give to raffles, etc.) and when this list was last updated.

After you have identified the appropriate mailing list and the number of names needed you can begin to develop your package. Remember, develop your package and its message based on the profile of your mailing list and not on what message you may want to share with past donors. These are two separate mailings and need to be handled as such.