Fundraising Direct Mail That Drives Online Response

By David Hazeltine

Now, before you take the time and effort to pick out and order a new item, go to your premiums closet and see if you can find something worthy to use. Then, estimate the amount you’ll need to fulfill based on 15 percent to 20 percent of your overall responses.

As I stated in the "Aretha Franklin" article, getting your constituents to give online is half the battle. Drive them to a dedicated landing page or trackable giving site whenever possible to be sure you are accurately crediting the source of your gifts. If this is not feasible or possible right now, it is important to make your online-giving forms as available and accessible as possible. One way to do this is to add a big, red “GIVE NOW” radio button — in the same position — on every page of your website.

Cautions
There are three cautions I’d like to add about the process of encouraging and collecting online gifts and, for that matter, gifts coming in from multiple channels:

Online responders are not necessarily good prospects for future online appeals, but remember, they are “direct mail-responsive” until they become “online-responsive.” Don’t think that because you captured their e-mail addresses that you can save money by not mailing to them. Yes, they gave online — but would they have if they hadn’t received your mailing? A short time after they give, via any channel, ask them how they prefer to be communicated with, via acknowledgments, surveys, phone calls, etc., and add these preferences to their records and respect them.
Don’t put people in silos based on their responses — mail vs. Web vs. phone, etc. The best constituents are multichannel constituents. You want them giving via more than one medium, as they’ll have higher long-term value, retention and lifetime value. According to the Blackbaud Target Analytics 2010 Index of National Fundraising Performance, donors connected to an organization through multiple communication channels are at least 20 percent more valuable than donors connected through only one channel. The index also revealed that first-year retention for multichannel donors was 51 percent compared to 30 percent of offline donors and 22 percent of online donors.
Online donors often give impulsively, and online renewal rates are often low. At least in year two, use mail and phone to get online donors and members to renew (phone calls are a great time to ask them their preferences for your communications).

Take a look at your recent direct-mail appeals to see where you could implement some of the strategies above. Are there improvements you can make to the copy and design for the package(s) that you currently have in the works? Make small investments in the evolution of your appeals so they are more engaging, and implement accurate tracking of online responses to your mail. It will improve your bottom line and your two-way communications with the multichannel, multigeneration consumers who are your prospects, donors and members.