May 2005

Integrated fundraising (Part 1) by Madeline Stanionis

Integrated fundraising (Part 1)By Madeline Stanionis

Following is the first of three articles about the art and science of integrating direct mail, telemarketing, e-mail, and online communications. Part one will cover planning and guidelines, and parts two and three will show examples and results.

If Integrating your Web site and e-mail messaging with your direct mail and telemarketing programs isn't already boosting your response, it soon will be. And if you aren't already dipping your toe into the waters of integration, c'mon in . . . the water's fine.

Quickly, the basics

By now, you should be avidly collecting the e-mail addresses of people on your housefile and putting them to good use in your online program. You'd be typical of many organizations if you have e-mail addresses for about 20% or more of your housefile. And, of course, you have a place to put those e-mail addresses -- an online service. Right? Then you're ready to put an integration plan in place.

Construct a calendar

Simple, really. Look at your direct mail and telemarketing schedule, and plug in the online opportunities. Like this (very basic) schedule, with online components in italics:

Jan 1-10 Happy new year phone calls
Jan 5 Renewal 1 drops
Jan 12-19 Renewal home page hi-jack
Jan 15 Renewal 1 post-e-mail sent
Feb 10 Renewal 2 pre-e-mail sent
Feb 25 Renewal 2 drops
March 10 Pre-phone e-mail sent
Mar 22-29 Renewal phone calls
April 1 Renewal 3 drops
April 10 Renewal 3 post e-mail sent
May 5-19 Sustainer call
May 10 Sustainer/Renewal 4 e-mail sent
May 15 Renewal 4 drops
June 10 Special appeal 2 mailed
Aug 1 Last chance renewal mailed
Oct 1 Reinstatement phone calls
Nov 15 Year-end appeal mailed
Nov 20 Holiday/thank-you e-mail sent
Dec 10 Holiday card/appeal drops
Dec 15 Year-end appeal 1 e-mail sent
Dec 29 Year-end appeal 2 e-mail sent

There are four things you should notice about this calendar:

1. First, you don't need to integrate everything. Special appeals online and offline are usually quite different. Online special appeals tend towards the up-to-the-minute newsy and very program-specific. I'd save my special appeals for late-breaking news opportunities and not burn them on an integrated solicitation.

2. The calendar doesn't indicate a key element: Whenever you drop a direct mail piece, expect that some donors will head to your Web site to make their gifts whether you told them to or not. Make it easy for them to know where and how to give to the appropriate program by putting a prominent promo on your Web site that references the renewal or appeal.

3. You may have noticed that January's calendar indicates "Renewal home page hi-jack." This means I recommend putting up a page instead of your organization's regular home page. For a week or so. Yes, you read that right. Renewal 1 is the time when you'll get the best response, with the greatest number of people heading to your site to make their renewal gifts. Might as well make a feature of it (and invite your prospects to join then, too!).

4. I tend to do a combination of pre- and post-e-mail messages. I'd like to say that one performs better than the other, but I can't make that claim yet. So, try both. See what happens for you.

Madeline Stanionis is Vice President and Creative Director at Donordigital, 182 Second Street, San Francisco CA 94105, phone (415) 278-9444, fax (415) 901-0112, e-mail madeline@donordigital.com, Web www.donordigital.com.

The latest in thank-yous

It's been years since we last reviewed thank-you packages received by this newsletter's Phantom Donor, that philanthropic soul who annually mails a $25 check to each of 20 different major nonprofits.

So, in response to another round of check writing — with each gift mailed December 30, 2004 — we decided to sneak a peak once again into The Phantom's mailbox. Our goal? To find some stellar examples of the thank-you process.

As a side note, after 10 weeks, two groups had still not acknowledged the gift (Southern Poverty Law Center and The Humane Society of the U.S.). Granted, this sort of thing happens every year. But the Phantom Donor reports being miffed. And justifiably so!

Anyway, on to the good stuff.

CARE

Mailed in a #10 window carrier — with a standard teaser of "Thank You for Caring! Gift Receipt Enclosed" — this package features an 8-1/2 x 14" two-sided sheet that uses a format repeated by several of our groups.

The top two panels contain a short, personalized letter — with the amount of the gift embedded in the nicely written copy. The pre-printed back side includes pictures of smiling faces and general information about CARE and its cost-effective operation.

The middle, detachable panel is your basic "Gift Receipt," while the legal disclaimer fills the back. The bottom panel is a bounce-back reply form for "your next gift" — with a gift string of "$25.00 (amount of last gift)" and "$___ (other amount)."

The package also contains two four-color inserts. The first — a succinct pitch for the group's CARE for the Child monthly giving program — measures 10 x 6-1/2". It folds vertically into six panels, two of which form a detachable reply slip. A smiling girl on the cover is juxtaposed with four sad infant faces on the inside. A nice, after-and-before-your-gift touch.

The second insert is smaller, 5-1/2 x 8-1/2", and folds horizontally into thirds. It's really a mini-newsletter called "Hands at Work: A report from the field on how your support of CARE is changing lives." The front has a story with pictures about CARE in Nepal, the back talks about CARE in Tajikistan.

A BRE rounds out this impressive effort.

The Nature Conservancy

This package, also mailing in a #10 window, uses the tried-and-true handwritten teaser of "Thank you!" A short, four-paragraph letter with P.S. — personalized with the gift amount embedded — prints one side of an 8-1/2 x 11" sheet.

The stand-out feature is a 9 x 15-3/4" four-color, glossy insert which folds horizontally into quarters. The cover pictures rolling hills with copy reading, "Your gift is key to helping preserve the last great places on Earth for generations to come." This unfolds to reveal two panels of information on making a planned gift, along with the benefits of joining The Legacy Club (a planned giving society). The bottom two panels detach to form a self-contained reply device.

In addition, the mailing includes an 8-1/2 x 3-5/8" personalized receipt with detachable membership card. Again, thank-you language is liberally applied.

A clever wallet-flap BRE completes the package. A four-color photo of a sunflower-filled hill graces the back, with copy that reads, "Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine you're among lush green hills. Smell the sunflowers blooming around you. Feel the light breeze as it brushes your face."

Inside, it says, "Places like this aren't easy to come by, but they do still exist. The Nature Conservancy works around the world to preserve those precious natural areas, so that closing your eyes will never be the only way to get there."

Nice, huh?

What's up online
By Dan Weeks

What do you do when your organization faces tragedy, such as the loss of the founder? CIVIC Worldwide — the Campaign for Innocent Victims of Conflict — faced just that issue when its founder, Marla Ruzicka, was killed in a suicide car bomb blast in Iraq last month. Faiz Ali Salim, CIVIC's Iraq Country Director, was also killed.

Marla Ruzicka gave her life to the question, "How many Iraqis died?" CIVIC's Web site — at www.civicworldwide.org — covers that issue well, while providing moving portraits of Marla's life and work through quotes, a video portrait and flash tribute, and a slideshow of CIVIC's work in Iraq. It also includes a press release from U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, a map of the country showing vigils taking place, and a way to post condolences or stories about Marla or Faiz.

All in all a fine and fitting beginning for CIVIC's next chapter.

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May 2005

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