Not Enough New Donors? Give Donors 10 Chances and Build the Need

By Angie Moore

There's been a lot of data through the years that talks about how long it takes for someone to really make a decision and how many impressions it takes before someone remembers an ad, etc. Trip Kucera, senior research analyst at the Aberdeen Group, where he leads the Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy practice, has taken this a step further and documented the number.

This is an excerpt from an article I read recently: "… we must rethink the role of marketing in the buyer's journey (as many are). Aberdeen's 2012 'Marketing Lead Management: From the Top of the Funnel to the Top Line' report noted that, on average, prospects receive 10 marketing touches through the course of a successful buyer's journey (one that ends in 'closed-won'). This means that the part of the mission that used to belong almost exclusively to sales is now shared between marketing and sales, with more and more of the responsibility shifted to marketing. That mission is to shape the buyer's vision."

This is not the first time we've heard about the buyer's journey and certainly not a new idea to actually apply this to the nonprofit donor giving journey. However, I bet it would be difficult to find a nonprofit that has any data that literally tracks an acquisition list over 10 touches by constituent to see if there is some truth about the number of touches it takes to actually move someone to a "give" step. Granted, because many nonprofits continue to actually mail the same lists over and over to acquire new donors, it might be difficult to pinpoint a "starting" point for the journey of shaping the future donor's vision.

But it could be done on the back end, right? I think?? (This is when the data scientists in my team want to kick me under the table.) Couldn't we look backward? Couldn't we take a group of people who donated to a specific acquisition appeal in 2013 (and were not lapsed donors) and then determine how many times they received an acquisition promotion over the prior years?

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Angie Moore Author's page

Vice President, Strategy & Development
Eleventy Marketing Group

Angie is ridiculously passionate about EVERYTHING she’s involved in — including the future and success of our nonprofit industry.

Angie is a senior exec with 25 years of experience in direct and relationship marketing. She is a C-suite consultant with experience over the years at both nonprofits and agencies. She currently leads strategy and development for marketing intelligence agency Eleventy Marketing Group. Previously she has worked at the innovative startup DonorVoice and as general manager of Merkle’s Nonprofit Group, as well as serving as that firm’s CRM officer charged with driving change within the industry. She also spent more 14 years leading the marketing, fundraising and CRM areas for two nationwide charities, The Arthritis Foundation and the American Cancer Society. Angie is a thought leader in the industry and is frequent speaker at events, and author of articles and whitepapers on the nonprofit industry. She also has received recognition for innovation and influence over the years.

Not Enough New Donors? Maybe It’s Because You Need 10 Touches and More ‘Story’