October 2005

Grow your e-mail database! by Brent Blackaby

The impact of design on copy by Deborah Block and Paul Karps

What's up online by Dan Weeks

   
 

Grow your e-mail database!

By Brent Blackaby

 

Unless you're eBay, Google, Yahoo!, Amazon.com, or among a handful of other high-traffic Web sites, you can't just rely on your brand name to attract visitors to your online front door. You've got to drive people to your Web site. In short, you need to make e-mail an integral part of your online marketing repertoire. And the key to success in e-mail marketing is the size of your e-mail list itself.

Online fundraising returns are directly proportional to the size of your list. Double your list size, and you'll likely double your fundraising.

Here are five of the best ways to grow this valuable asset:

(1) Online advocacy. Try to identify an issue that your organization is uniquely positioned to take action on. Capitalize on current events and stories that are being covered in the press. Then push your advocacy campaign out as far and wide as you can, especially with multiple e-mails to your own list. Then encourage your supporters to tell their friends about it. Many of our clients have added tens of thousands of e-mails to their lists in just a week or two by identifying the right issue and acting quickly to "own" it.

(2) Look internally. You can start by ensuring that your organization is collecting e-mail addresses for supporters at every traditional marketing touchpoint, including phone and direct mail. Make sure you have sign-up sheets at every event, and offer incentives like contests or gifts to encourage people to provide their e-mail address.

To acquire e-mail addresses for a significant portion of your offline supporter database even more quickly, consider performing an e-mail append with one or more large consumer data vendors. They'll match the name and physical mail address of your supporters with people in their database, and sell you just the new e-mail addresses that match. Append projects are a good way to acquire e-mails at a low cost from people who already support your organization.

(3) Don't forget your partners. Reach out to organizations and individuals that you frequently partner with, and ask them to send an e-mail to their own list on your behalf — especially if you can promote a new advocacy campaign from your organization that's particularly well suited to their audience. This can inspire higher conversion rates than standard opt-in or fundraising messages. If your partners want something in return, offer a similar opt-in message to your own e-mail list.

(4) Fire up the search engines. At a minimum, make sure people can find your Web site when they look for your organization on Google or Yahoo! by submitting your site for inclusion in search results. But you should take things a step further, too.

When you launch a new online advocacy effort, consider purchasing pay-per-click advertising in search results for keywords related to your campaign. For example, when we managed an online advocacy campaign for Senator Barbara Boxer's PAC during Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearings, targeted pay-per-click advertising on keywords including "Condoleezza Rice," "Secretary of State," and "confirmation hearings" drove thousands of additional signers to Senator Boxer's petition and significantly grew her e-mail list.

(5) Reach out to bloggers. Millions of Americans actively read and participate on Web logs across a wide variety of subjects. Political blogs are just the tip of the iceberg! Identify the biggest and most influential blogs relating to your organization's work, and post frequently there. You'll be reaching into a community of very active, savvy online activists who can help you spread your message and achieve your advocacy and fundraising goals.

    
 
The impact of design on copy

By Deborah Block and Paul Karps

As freelance copywriters, we have a clear bias when it comes to designing a direct mail fundraising package. In our warped world view, words take precedence. And while we absolutely understand the importance of quality graphics — to make the package stand out and look great — more than anything, we prefer a design that doesn't get in the way of a package's messaging and overall Marketing Concept.

Our goal is for the design to enhance the copy, rather than undermine it. Truth be told, we've seen many a design that seems to work against the words: by, for example, distracting the reader's attention or sacrificing readability for the sake of a certain "graphic look."

Here, then, are some tips — from the writers' perspective — on how design and copy should work together.

 

Control natural urges

Graphic artists — especially those who aren't as experienced in direct mail — are inherently interested in making packages look attractive. And we don't really blame them. That's who they are and what they do. But sometimes all those artistic bells and whistles aren't the ticket. In fact, while the end result may qualify for a design award . . . it's just as likely to bomb in terms of response.

Above all else, your mission is to raise money, not to win graphic art awards. (And interestingly enough, the major awards in direct mail fundraising generally start with stellar results and then move on to how the package looks.)

 

Make it readable

Artists oftentimes prefer to do things with copy that, from where they sit, add interest and flair to the words. Varying fonts, sizes, and colors can certainly do the trick — as long as the copy is readable. But when it comes to the letter, this variation can be distracting on the eye. It basically stops the natural flow of the copy dead in its tracks. And, as writers, we want the reader moving along to the end (and then to the reply slip). So keeping the artistic flourishes to a minimum is key.

We also believe the font size should be large enough so even more mature recipients (those who make up the majority of most fundraisers' lists) can decipher the words — at least with their reading glasses on!

 

Maintain the flow

Even if a recipient doesn't actually read every word, you want her to get the point of the thing: to send a gift. So ask your designer to end each page of your letter (except the last, of course) in the middle of a sentence. After all, breaking copy off at the end of a paragraph may be just the excuse your reader needs to stop reading. But never — ever — let a designer break up an Ask on two separate pages.

 

Get help setting the tone

Perhaps the best way for copy and design to work together is when the artist uses her creativity to reiterate and reinforce underlying themes in the package's message. Color schemes, graphics, photos, fonts, etc. can be manipulated to play up the tone: whether it's urgency or pathos, fun for the whole family or table-pounding advocacy.

Editor's Note: For authoritative information about the impact of typesetting and design on the reader, consult Type & Layout by Colin Wheildon. This classic, originally published by this newsletter's publisher, has recently been revised and reissued in Australia by Worsley Press. It's available in North America from FAP Books, P.O. Box 540, Gainesville FL 32602-0540, phone (888) 511-5125, Web www.floridaacademicpress.com.

 
   
What's up online
By Dan Weeks

More and more nonprofit organizations are offering members-only access to special features on their Web sites. The Christian Children's Fund, for instance, offers their web users access to a password-protected area in which they may view their account history and manage their donations. This is a great way to get your members more involved and for them to keep on top of their giving history.

The CCF Web site —at www.christianchildrensfund.org — also offers copies of annual reports, an online gift catalog, resources for journalists and relief professionals, and, of course, information on sponsoring children. Here, you may search by gender, age and country to find photos of children who might be a good match for you.

 

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