Getting Your Wires Crossed

The organization continues to find success with this multi-channel approach, having mailed 12,000 acquisition pieces to online non-donors in March 2005, resulting in a 1.07 percent response rate, a $23.40 average gift and a net per acquired of -$12.13.

Mary Ester, director of development for the Brady Campaign, says the organization is well aware that the e-constituents contacted via direct mail might still end up making most of their donations online. But that doesn’t mean the campaign is a loss, says Gaffny, who adds that whether donors end up giving through other channels or not, reaching them through multiple channels enhances the relationship and can result in increased giving down the road.

It’s something the Brady Campaign is analyzing, Ester says, adding that the organization already considers its multi-channel efforts successful.

New net for nature lovers
At The Nature Conservancy, multi-channel fundraising is in its early stages and more basic. There it’s as simple as soliciting an online donor for a second gift via both e-mail and direct mail.

Director of Membership and Annual Giving Amy Golden admits that The Nature Conservancy was initially somewhat resistant to investing in fundraising channels other than direct mail. But it recognized that its direct-mail constituency, while an affluent audience, is older and aging, and either retired or on the verge of it. To attract a younger audience, Golden and the development staff recognized a need to improve the organization’s Web presence and tap into the younger, Web-savvy field of potential donors.

To that end, The Nature Conservancy launched its Great Places Network, a free membership program that serves as an online community where visitors can sign up to receive a free monthly newsletter that can be tailored to report on issues germane to the state they live in and the specific issues they’re interested in. It’s a way to get people interested in the organization’s mission in the door and open to e-mail appeals. When someone makes a donation through an e-mail appeal, he or she then is
flowed into The Nature Conservancy’s regular donor file and will begin to receive direct-mail appeals.