Retention

Make Your Fundraising Postage Work Harder
October 21, 2008

In tough economic times, fundraisers must use all the tools at their disposal to ensure their organizations can continue to meet the demand for their services. Even with the growth of electronic communications, traditional direct mail remains an important tool for raising donations. Savvy fundraisers can make their investments in direct mail work harder by ensuring that their production vendors are using all available means to optimize their postage spends. Using nonprofit Standard mail postage rates is easier than ever. Qualified nonprofit organizations can stretch scarce fundraising dollars by using discounted Standard mail rates for nonprofit religious, educational, scientific, philanthropic, agricultural, labor, veterans and

Feature Sidebar: 10 Tips for Using Cartoons in Direct-Mail Fundraising
October 14, 2008

Editor’s Note: The October issue of FundRaising Success features a story by cartoonist and direct-mail consultant Stu Heinecke on using customized cartoons in direct-mail fundraising efforts. This is a sidebar to that story, “Drawing Attention to Your Cause.” 1. Focus on the recipient’s identity, not yours. Or your client’s. One of the biggest mistakes I see marketers making with personalized cartoons is that they forget who’s important: the recipient. The cartoon’s job is not to sell the product (or cause), but to reveal the truth — the reason why your product is needed or your cause is important. Sell them in the letter copy.

Seniors Online: Useful Statistics
October 7, 2008

Here’s a shout-out to Rick Christ at NPAdvisors for compiling these useful stats about seniors and their online habits. To read the full post (and sign up for this free, on-point newsletter) click here. * 65 percent of those 50 to 64 years old and 32 percent of those 65+ use the Internet. Only 22 percent of the 65+ crowd was online in 2004, and only 15 percent in 2000. (Pew Internet, Feb-March 2007) * Of those 65 years and older, 34 percent of men and only 21 percent of women are online. This is the only age group where men outpace women online.

Report: Target Donors 40 and Older for Planned Gifts
September 30, 2008

Nonprofits interested in beefing up their planned-giving base should reach out to potential donors in their 40s, according to a recently released study dubbed “Discovering the Secret Giver.” Conducted for The Stelter Company, a Des Moines, Iowa-based fundraising consultancy, the study examined how and why people age 40 and up make bequests to nonprofit groups. These “secret givers” aren’t generally on fundraisers’ radars, the report found. Bev Hutney, creative director at Stelter, says the study shows that nonprofits should be reaching out to people in their 40s, which is at least 10 years earlier than the timing that is widely accepted as ideal in

Report: Taglines an Important (But Underutilized) Tool for Nonprofit Messaging
September 23, 2008

“A tagline is a terrible thing to waste,” says Nancy Schwartz, president of Nancy Schwartz & Co. and blogger at Getting Attention. “But seven of 10 nonprofits do just that, ranking their taglines as poor — or not using one at all.” The Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Report shows nonprofits how to make the most of their taglines to effectively engage audiences — both today and in better economic times. “Pithy, relevant messaging is more relevant than ever in tough times, when nonprofits’ audiences are more distracted than ever,” Schwartz says. “A strong tagline is a powerful way of connecting, especially in these

Five Things You Must Do to Ensure a Second Gift
September 16, 2008

Even in a “healthy” fundraising program, only 30 percent of newly acquired donors give again after their original gift! What can you do to keep more of your new donors interested in your cause and eager to support you again and again? You have a critical window of opportunity to motivate donors to give a second gift — usually within three months of their first gifts. As more time passes, it’s less and less likely that new donors will give again. But if they do, they’re much more likely to turn into generous, loyal supporters. Here are five essential things you must do

Survey: Weak Economy Means Seniors Give Less
September 9, 2008

The country’s economic crisis will force donors, especially older adults, to cut their contributions to charities for the rest of the year, according to a recently released survey. But those between the ages of 25 and 34 will increase their donations, according to the survey by direct-response marketing and fundraising firm Grizzard Communications Group, which is headquartered in Atlanta. The survey showed that only 13 percent of respondents expect to increase their giving for the remainder of 2008, while 29 percent plan to decrease it. Bill Jacobs, vice president of research and analytics and senior strategist with Grizzard, says the surprising

Conference Roundup: Wooing Lapsed Donors
September 2, 2008

Organizations never want to say goodbye to a donor. And they don’t have to, says Nicole Titus, director of client services for the Washington, D.C.-based fundraising and communications agency OMP Direct. During the session “Baby Come Back! Wooing Lapsed Donors” at the 2008 New York Nonprofit Conference last month, Titus said wooing back donors comes down to four things: strategy, message, channel and technique. Strategy is based on what you know about your lapsed donors. * What has the biggest impact on your donor’s long-term value? Is it channel, gift or something else? “Target your most valuable donors first,” Titus said. *

What’s the Big Deal?
April 1, 2008

I’ve been tracking an unusual renewal series as it unfolds — a purely postal mail campaign reminiscent of coordinated multichannel campaigns. Today, savvy nonprofits are exploiting all the multichannel possibilities and using e-mail to bookend renewal and special-appeal campaigns sent by postal mail, for example — alerting the donor that an important mailing is coming and following up after its projected arrival with another e-mail inquiring about its receipt and calling for action. The renewal series I’ve been monitoring is using this same strategy with a sequence of physical pre- and post-mailings around a Big Deal package. Building the anticipation The pre-package before

Bring Back That Loving Feeling
April 1, 2008

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about declining results for direct mail and flagging e-mail open rates. Our outreach apparently is not sparking the passionate responses we want. Don’t our donors and prospects love us anymore? Why don’t they take our calls? If this is starting to sound like an “advice for the lovelorn” column, then that’s appropriate. As fundraisers, we’ve got a lot of the same problems as the people writing Dear Abby. And I think our response-rate heartache is based in the root causes that the advice columnists so often cite. Really. The relationship we have with our donors and prospects is