September 2008

FIRST ASK

I would first like to thank you for your past support of the Animal Group’s work to protect animals. As a supporter of the Animal Group, you no doubt know about three unique ways in which we serve animals and the people who care about them. These are our Rescue Services team, our mobile programs which include adoption and spaying & neutering, and the hands-on work we do to make sure that even pets with behavior issues have the chance for a good home.

The Animal Group is unique among animal welfare agencies in having an entire department dedicated to mobile animal rescue services in the field. Our highly trained specialists respond to pets and wildlife that are injured, trapped in trees or on ice or by fire, and other dangerous situations. (Last winter, for instance, we safely extricated a kitten who had crawled inside a car engine and gotten trapped—we had to painstakingly take apart the engine!)

Our Rescue Team has an incredible arsenal of humane traps, nets, and other specialized equipment that no other organization in the area has.

Your support is vital to the Animal Group’s ability to offer these important services. Would you help us reach out to help more animals in need in 2008 and renew your support with a gift of ($3xHPC or $100)?

SECOND ASK

Two of the most critical tools the Animal Group has are our Spay Vehicle and our Mobile Adoption and Rescue Vehicle. What’s unique is that they both take services out to people in their own communities throughout [US State / territory / colony].

The Spay Vehicle is a mobile surgery unit that’s dedicated to the performing spaying and neutering for low-income pet owners who could not otherwise afford these procedures for their pets.

We also have a specially equipped, state-of-the art vehicle called the Mobile Adoption and Rescue Vehicle that can safely and comfortably transport 43 animals at one time. We can use it to provide temporary shelter for animals during natural disasters and other emergencies. Right now we’re using it to take animals out of the shelter to communities where they can meet people who might adopt them—and this activity will pick up as the weather gets nicer.

We are proud of the work we are doing—because it really helps animals—but we need your help. Can you help ensure we are able to continue these programs by renewing your support with a gift of ($2x HPC or $50)?

THIRD ASK

In addition to our work in animal rescue, the Animal Group offers state of the art programs in animal behavior. We work with hard-to-place animals in our shelters to make them adoptable, and also with pets once they’ve gone home with new families. The worst thing that can happen to an animal is to be returned to a shelter—especially when often all that’s needed is some counseling that will solve a pet’s behavior issues, like food-aggression or separation anxiety, for instance. Our Pet Behavior Hotline is a free service where people can turn for help. We also offer behavior counseling, obedience classes, and our staff conducts workshops locally, regionally, and nationally to show other shelters how to offer behavior programs, which really work.

Knowing that these programs provide badly needed services to pet owners that can keep pets from being returned to shelters and help make adoptions work out, can you help ensure we are able to continue our animal behavioral services by renewing your support with a gift of ($ (MRC or $25)?

GIFT CLOSE

Great! The best way to process your gift is on VISA or MasterCard– this way the Animal Group can put your money to work right away. Which card would you prefer to use?

IF NO TO FIRST CC ASK

I understand. The reason I asked for a credit card is that it’s the most efficient way to process your contribution—there’s less administrative time, paperwork, and postage involved and more of your contribution goes towards our programs. Would you help in this way?

IF STILL NO

That’s fine. We’d be happy to process a check pledge. I’ll send you a card and reply envelope in the mail. It will have space for your credit card information, if you’re more comfortable giving that way through the mail.

FUNDRAISERS: MAKE CERTAIN TO TAKE ALL CREDIT CARD INFO BEFORE RECORDING BEGINS

RECORDED CONFIRMATION OF PLEDGE AMOUNT AND TYPE

Let me confirm this again please...

CHECK: You have agreed to make a [pledge/contribution/gift] of $___ to the Animal Group. Is that correct? [Note: must get a yes or no response.]

We’ll send you a card and reply envelope in the mail—it has the Animal Group logo (with the red barn) in the upper left-hand corner so you can identify it easily. May I count on you to return your gift within [3 to 4 days/the same day/the next day/within 2 days] of receiving the envelope?

Note: If initial timeframe is not possible: or [specific date 2 weeks from today/in 2 weeks]; 3^rd ask is for [within 4 weeks or specific date 4 weeks from today]

Return date must be an exact time frame. If they do not make such a commitment, it is not a valid pledge and should be recorded as a refusal.

CREDIT CARD: We'll send you a confirmation for your gift of $___ to the Animal Group. I have recorded that we will charge it to your [VISA/MC]. Is all that correct? Must get yes or no.

ADDRESS CONFIRM FOR ALL PLEDGES

And let me just confirm your mailing address. Are you still at [read address on screen]?  Must get yes or no.

CLOSE/DISCLOSURE YES: Just one last thing—I need to let you know that donations to the Animal Group are tax-deductible. Thank you again for your contribution.

CLOSE/DISCLOSURE NO: Thank you for your time (today/tonight), (Mr./Mrs./Ms Prospect). I hope you’ll consider supporting us again in the future.

Here’s Joe’s analysis:

There are a number of problems with this script. First, the wording is awkward. Take the first sentence as an example: People don't speak like this. Thanking donors at the start of a phone script is basic and required. Making assumptions about what donors "know" is a mistake ("you no doubt know"). Instead, use the personal connection to deliver something different, new, and interesting. Lots of donors don’t read your direct mail or newsletters or those precious letters you sweat over so long!).

This script does not engage the donor – i t’s all about what the charity is doing and the script tends to whine on. The sentences are too long: 39 words, 27 words. Shorten your sentences, be conversational. You lose donors with scripts that drone on like this one.

The First Ask is third person. What a waste! Fundraising is people asking people. What exactly does "reach out to more animals" mean—getting their e-mail addresses?

I would prefer that the script help the caller make a personal connection with the donor. For example, "We really appreciate your support of our programs to help animals we both love. Do you have a companion animal, a dog or cat?" Using this technique helps make a human connection. Callers just have to make sure not to lose control of the phone call by letting the donor chatter away for 20 minutes about Fluffy.

The wording of the Second Ask is awkward. When you write phone scripts, take a few minutes to read them out loud to pass the "conversation test." Would you really say something like this? Scripts need to provide callers with support. Concise language that can frame the discussion.

Finally, the script just continues to be all about the organization. I don't think there is a single "you" in this script. It should be full of phrases such as "You understand." "You helped make this possible." "You love animals." "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Stay tuned for Joe’s analysis of two additional telephone fundraising scripts!

2. Eight ways writing e-mail appeals is the same as writing direct mail letters

3. Getting email delivered: The top five mistakes email senders make in scheduling their mailings

By Anne Mitchell

1. Sending email too frequently

2. Not sending email frequently enough

Conversely, if you don’t send e-mail frequently enough, then people will forget who you are, or that they signed up for your mailing list. Then, guess what happens when, suddenly, after two years, a user gets e-mail from you, seemingly out of the blue, advertising your service? That’s right—they hit "this is spam," because they don’t remember you. It’s important to find that delicate balance between sending e-mail often enough that your users remember and follow you, but not so often that you get them upset by inundating their inbox.

3. Not sending email consistently

4. Sending an email just for the sake of sending an email

5. Not paying attention to the day and time that you send your email

Anne P. Mitchell, Esq., is CEO, Institute for Social Internet Public Policy and publishes The E-mail Deliverability Blog. Reprinted with permission.

4. Progressive!

Who makes up today’s progressive donorbase? According to a poll by The Mellman Group and A.B. Data Group, as reported in NPT Instant Fundraising, progressives are balanced by gender, are well educated, and are increasingly liberal as compared to a similar study in 1995. Eighty-four percent identify as Democrats, 54% as strongly Democratic, 40% as “very liberal,” and 30% as “somewhat liberal.” In addition, the study finds that 57% of progressive donors contribute after receiving a direct mail appeal and 25% because of an e-mail request.

5. Destination Marketing

By Tom Gaffny

At the 2008 DMA Nonprofit Conference in Washington DC, late in January, Tom Gaffny, then Executive Vice President at Epsilon, delivered an extraordinary workshop, relating the findings of his year-long study of online best practices. The presentation included a staggering 192 slides and revealed so much about the state of fundraising online today that it was virtually indigestible at one sitting. Tom graciously agreed to allow us to publish his findings piecemeal as a new column in this newsletter. What follows is the sixth installment.

In my year-long study of the online practices of 144 nonprofit organizations, I learned about 12 ways that charities are using the online medium to bring donors closer to the cause . . . again and again. They’re thus making their organizations more relevant, more provocative, more stimulating, and more engaging.

Here, once again, are those 12 techniques:

• Be relevant—be local
• Highlight the video
• Engage constituents
• Leverage techniques that work in the mail
• Send information in bite-size chunks
• Work at channel integration
• Personalize your organization
• Be visual—be provocative
• Say "thank you" in different ways
• Ask friends to "get the word out"
• Be timely—be there
• Highlight your partners

In my previous columns, I addressed the first five of these 12 approaches. This month I’ll cover the sixth.

Work at channel integration

Our colleagues in commercial direct marketing have known for years the value of integrating communications efforts through different channels—mail, telephone, print, TV, radio, billboards . . . whatever. We nonprofit fundraisers have been slow on the uptake. Admittedly, not many of us can cost-effectively use TV, radio, or billboards. But at a minimum we can make profitable coordinated use of mail, the phone, and e-mail.

Here’s an excellent example from America’s Second Harvest of an effective combination of direct mail and online messaging:

Take a look in particular at the highlighted copy below and at the headline in the lower right-hand corner:

For a different but at least equally interesting approach to combining direct mail with email, consider this example from the Arthritis Foundation:

The combination isn’t immediately apparent unless you note the reference to Arthritis Today magazine in this email. But here’s the thank-you letter that arrives once you make a gift in response to that email:

Here’s another great example from Ducks Unlimited:

And another one, with a different wrinkle, from Habitat for Humanity:

This is the critical element to examine in the Habitat for Humanity email above:

Want more? Take a look at this colorful example from the Paralyzed Veterans of America:

And yet another approach from Save the Children:

Take special note of the “Subject” line in this email:

Also, look carefully at the key paragraph in the message that follows that Subject line:

There’s nothing mysterious or especially challenging about these uses of integrated direct mail and email. Though the examples I’ve presented are all from relatively large nonprofits, any organization can do similar things.

Try it. You’ll almost certainly find that response to your efforts in every channel is improved by the coordinated use of multiple channels.

Tom Gaffny can be contacted at Tom Gaffny Consulting, 71 Cliff Road, Wellesley MA 02481, phone (781) 685-6825, fax (781) 685-0817, e-mail
tomgaffny@hotmail.com.

6. Ask Mal

Since 1994, when the Mal Warwick Associates Web site went online, Editor Mal Warwick has answered fundraising questions posed by visitors to the site. Hundreds of those Q&As are available here. In this feature, we'll spotlight one Q&A from the most recent month.

Question: The Baby Boomers on our fundraising team are being challenged by 20-somethings in terms of fundraising letter formatting. The youngsters are telling us that indented paragraphs and serif fonts are not contemporary and make us not able to connect with a younger audience. We want to be very open to changing perceptions on the part of our audience, however nothing we can find gives us a good reason to change formatting from indented paragraphs and serif fonts. Counsel? While we are on that, where do we stand currently on using a Courier font?

Mal answers: Chances are, your 20-somethings are correct about what appeals to their peers. However, 20-somethings are not known to respond in meaningful numbers to direct mail fundraising appeals, no matter what format they employ. 30-somethings are a little bit more responsive. But experience shows that only in mid-life do donors begin to take appeals for funds more seriously. There are numerous demographic, financial, and psychological reasons for this. But, reasons aside, this is what the testing shows:

For the most part, your direct mail appeals need to target people who are 45 or older. Some nonprofits attract a younger demographic—but not under-30s. Stick to what you're doing.

For reasons that escape me, 12-point Courier still seems to work beautifully in direct mail. We've almost never seen any discernible difference in response when we test it head-to-head with a proportional font such as Times Roman.

7. Headline news!

By Michael Stein

• Prepare
  Even when you can’t be sure what rapid response opportunities might arise, you can line up the technological capacity to quickly launch an online action or fundraising campaign, and agree on an internal decision-making process. Make sure you have a writing, editing, and decision-making process in place so you can turn things around without delay.
  
• Respond quickly
  You have to respond within 24 hours so you can leverage media coverage and get it in front of your online constituents. This might include updating your Web site, sending out an email update, and updating your Facebook profile.
  
• Make a specific Ask
  Unless you’re just trying to educate the public broadly, a good rapid response campaign should have an action element as part of it—something your supporters can do to help solve the problem.
  
• Create a landing page on your Web site
  Create a specific Web page where the public can take the specific action, and drive Web traffic to that page as you conduct your outreach. Make sure your landing page includes information on how to act and donate.
  
• Reach out
  Reach out to your in-house e-mail lists, ask them to take action and to tell their friends. Then reach out to online media, bloggers, online discussion forums, email newsgroups, partner organizations, and others, to spread your message far and wide.
  
• Ask for links
  Look for opportunities to obtain Web links from both online and traditional media. You should be able to get many online publications that include your organization’s name in a story to include a link to your website.
  
• Synchronize your efforts
  Make sure that your online and offline efforts are synchronized. The messages should reinforce one another, the Web site address links should be prominent in all materials, both online and offline, and the request for help should be identical in both media.

Michael Stein is Senior Online Strategist at Mal Warwick Associates, 2550 Ninth Street, Suite 103, Berkeley CA 94710, phone (510) 843-8888, fax (510) 843-0142, e-mail Michaels@malwarwick.com.

8. Three piles of mail

By Tom Ahern and Simone Joyaux