Smart Acquisition List Selection

Smart Acquisition List Selection

Oct. 18, 2005

By Dottie Simmons Parham

Whether you're a small regional mailer, a first-time-in-the-mail political candidate or a large international nonprofit organization, how you target your prospective donors helps define your short- and long-term fundraising success and potential.

In no particular order, here are 15 key steps toward smart list selection:

1) Set your annual and campaign goals. How many donors do you want to acquire? At what cost per donor? How much are you willing to invest?

2) If you're a first-time mailer, construct test mailings that allow you to analyze and eventually capitalize on your potential. Build your test with lists that are most likely to succeed -- groups whose missions are most like your own. Once you have tested enough to identify these core "Tier 1" lists, you can then begin to test into the secondary and tertiary tiers.

3) If you have a mature program, look beyond the first gift. Analyze subsequent giving to help you evaluate -- on a list-by-list basis -- how long it takes to recoup your initial investment and your two-, three- and four (plus)-year lifetime value.

4) Rank lists according to your goals -- typically, some combination of lowest cost per donor, highest response rate, income per thousand pieces mailed, average gift or lifetime value.

5) Analyze your results by market and type. Group lists into like market categories (environmental, advocacy, health charities, political, etc.) and by type (donors, subscribers, buyers, compiled, models). This will help you understand the composite of your donor file, build smarter acquisition plans and evaluate your potential for growth within each of these categories.

6) Consider list-rental income as a means to help offset your acquisition subsidy and maximize your exchange potential with lists that work well for you.