1.0 to 90 in 60 90 direct mail tipsinjust60 minutes! Leah Eustace CFRE Fraser Green CFRE

2. Set the right goal

Be clear on what youre trying to do with your pyramid

Stabilize the base

Grow the base

Grow the vertical

3. Be realistic about growth

How sexy is your cause?

Are you Sick Kids or the Psoriasis Foundation?

Set targets appropriately!

4. Set long-term direction

Have a multi-year

(3-5) direction

Make sure this years plan fits into the bigger picture

5. Make sure everyoneson the same page

Set expectations throughout the organization

Educate leadership both staff & board

Failure to do this may upset your apple cart down the road!

6. Offer donor choice

Number of appeals

Stewardship options

E vs. paper receipts, newsletters etc.

Phoning okay

Greater choice =

greater loyalty!

7. Integrate channels

DM was a stand alone tactic in the 1980s

Not any more

Multi-channel world

Phone, online, face-to-face

Seamless baby!

8. Get your data house in order

Your direct mail program will only be as successful as your data allows it to be.

Invest in proven fundraising software and make sure someone is properly trained to get the most out of it.

9. Put your year on a spreadsheet

Mail dates

Mail types (donor renewal, prospect etc.)

Costs

Response rates

Average gift

Revenue gross and net

Key ratios

10. Make a creative plan

Themes

Signatories

looks

Length

Inserts (if any)

Info required

11. Make a critical path for each campaign

Work dates backwards

Include all key milestone dates

Work from this document daily or put reminders in your outlook calendar

If the path is met, the mail drops on time!

12. Case for Support

Take the time to write a powerful case for support

Were amazed at how many organizations dont have one (even the big guys)

A solid case saves time in the long run

13. Line up your people

Ensure everyone knows whats expected of them and when its expected

Interviewing signatories

Lining up suppliers

Everyone who needs to sign off

14. Set your evaluation methods in advance

What determines success & failure?

Driven by strategy

Key performance indicators will come into play (more later!)

15. Demographics are 2/3 of everythingDavid Foot

83% civic generation

Born pre-1946

Also called WW2 Generation

Grew up before television

Older, empty nest churchgoing woman

16. Meet Jacqueline

Make sure your package design, letter copy speak to her and not your executive director!

Focus group a letter with an elderly neighbour rather than your communications staff

17. Carrier envelope

Only purpose is to be opened

Simple often works best

Use teasers only when they contribute

18. Letter

Purpose of the letter is to create the impulse to give

Stay focused on purpose

19. Reply coupon

Purpose is to facilitate easy giving

Make it easy to use!

Dont get complicated

20. Business reply envelope

Just make sure you include one!

Dont send your donor looking for envelopes and stamps

Make it easy!

21. Remember that older eyes prefer

big

fonts

22. Count your Is and yous

The donor prefers to read you to I

Write from the outside in

Say you twice for every time you say I

23. Write emotionally

Human beings are emotional animals

We decide on our emotions

Strike the right chord to generate response

24. Our favourite fundraising maxim

The institution has no needs

Its all about connecting the donor with the beneficiary of the gift.

25. Take as long as it takes

Despite what your boss thinks, long letters outperform short ones

Take as long as it takes to tell your story

26. Its direct mail, so be direct

Dont be afraid to ask

Be as specific as you can with your ask

Dont be afraid to ask more than once

Asking is why youre writing

27. Focus on benefits not features

A feature describes

A benefit is an outcome

Donors want to create the benefit with their gift

Its shorter emergency room wait times not an enhanced intake system

28. Positioning the battlefor the mind

Whats your unique selling proposition?

If youre not unique, youre interchangeable

29. Book Tip

Positioning, the

Battle for the Mind

By Al Reiss & Jack Trout

30. The success formula

problem

+

solution

+

credibility (yours)

+

ask

31. The offer the reward

Donors dont just give

Its an exchange

Each party gets something

For the donor, its the psychic reward

Talk about that reward

32. Book Tip

Influence the Psychology of Persuasion

By Robert B. Caldiani

33. Dont crowd

Short sentences

Short paragraphs

Leave lots of white space

Make it easy to read

34. Write like you speak

Your grade four English teacher would be furious!

Incomplete sentences

Contractions

Hyphens

The eyes lead to the brain the ears to the heart!

35. Authentic copy

Make your letter sound like it REALLY comes from the person who signed it

Capture the voice/personality

Interviews work best

36. Beverycareful

Notto use jargon

enhancing indigenous capacity-building among community-based non-governmental organizations

or

helping people help themselves

37. Appeal to the senses

Peoples

imaginations can

see, smell, taste

touch and hear.

38. Book tip

Made to Stick

is a great book

that will help your

messages both

penetrate and stay

in the donors mind.

39. Passion is infectious..

If you show your passion for the cause, the donor will be infected.

40. Ease of reading

Black type on white background

Lots of visual contrast

41. A picture is worth a thousand words

Photographs amplify your message

42. Use a serif font

The preferred

font of direct mail

(older) donors

43. Tell great stories

Human beings communicate by telling stories

44. Book Tip

The Story Factor

By Annette Simmons

45. Key Performance Indicators Donor Acquisition Cost

Gross revenue minus expenditure

Divided by number of new donors

Sector average is $25

46. Conversion rate

Rate at which first time donors make a second gift

Repeat donors divided by once-only donors

Sector average is about 35-40%

47. Conversion Tip

Call new donors simply to say thanks and welcome.

48. Conversion Tip

You dont get a second chance to make a first impression!

Get the thank you letter and tax receipt mailed within 72 hours.

49. Conversion Tip

Send a welcome kit to first-time donors

50. Average gift

Gross revenue divided by number of gifts

51. Gift frequency

Average number of gifts per active donor per year

Total gifts divided by total number of active donors

Sector average is about 1.3

52. Renewal rate

Rate at which active donors renew their giving in subsequent year

Number of this years renewers divided by all last years active donors

53. Renewal Tip

You may need to add another renewal appeal to your yearly program to maintain your renewal rate.

54. Renewal Tip

Use newsletters to best advantage

Show money at work

Show positive results

Create donor satisfaction before

re-soliciting.

55. Active donor life expectancy

Average length of time during which an active donor will continue to give every year

Function of renewal rate

Refer to CMA handbook

56. Repeat donor investment

Donor acquisition cost divided by conversion rate

57. Lifetime value - gross

Total revenue youd expect from an active donor before she lapses

Average gift x gift frequency x life expectancy

58. Revenue to cost ratio

Key measurement of efficiency

Compares costs to revenues

Total revenue divided by total cost

59. Lifetime value - net

True return on new donor investment

Gross return minus costs

Gross lifetime value divided by the left number in the revenue to cost ratio

60. Production

Tender elements of production process to a number of suppliers

Give them the specs and hold an auction

Keep them competing for your business

61. Communicate with suppliers after the fact

Give them feedback on what you were pleased and displeased with

Little rewards can go a long way next time

62. You can save some money..

If you order a years worth of business reply envelopes all at once

Some suppliers will even store them for you

63. Guinea pig?

Sometimes a supplier will give you a big discount if youll test drive a new product or service

Hand addressing for a nickel

64. Using photos

Photos can certainly enhance your story and make your ask more compelling

But no photo is better than a bad one

Make sure you use high resolution photos with lots of contrast

65. Get thank you letters and receipts out quickly!

It shows appreciation and that youre organized.

66. Create a segmented fulfillment grid

Create categories of thank you tactics

Simple form letters to smaller gifts

Personalized notes and/or phone calls to more generous gifts

Use board members to call if you can!

67. Upsell

The thank you letter is a

wonderful opportunity to

talk about upgraded giving.

68. Donors arestarvingto see

Their dollars at work

Talk about how youre using their gift

69. Test in each mailing!

Lists acquisition

Personalization

Packages

Carrier envelopes

Reply devices

The list is endless!

70. Book Tip

Revolution in the Mailbox

By Mal Warwick

71. Segment mailings

Gift size and recency are a great help to planning and measuring your campaigns.

72. Acquisition best practice

Always test a new package against your control package

You do have a control package dont you?

73. Donor engagement

Donor surveys are a great way to engage and get valuable information

We often use them with January renewal mail campaigns

74. Donor engagement

Can you connect your donordirectlyto the recipient of the gift?

Why do you think child sponsorship programs are so successful?

75. Monthly donor conversion

Have a plan for monthly donor conversion

Monthly donor lifetime value four times greater

76. Set a target..

Most organizations can convert 5% to 10% of their donors to monthly if they do it right.

77.

Mail and phone work best to convert donors to monthly.

78. Best monthlyprospects include

Multi-donors

Credit card donors

79.

Make sure you follow up on expired credit cards

We had a client that didnt

80. Make a communications plan

For your monthly donors

Dont just take their money

Keep informing them of how youre putting their money to work

Keep saying thanks

81.

Ask monthly donors to increase their monthly gift after two to three years

But

Give them a good reason to!

82. Monthly Giving - Book Tip

Hidden Gold

By Harvey McKinnon

83. Its time to start a mid-level giving program

17% of your direct mail donors have made single gifts of $500 or more to charity

You want a share of that market

Make a plan and execute it

84. Two keys for success

Make the offer as specific as possible (quasi-designated if you will)

Promise added value re: stewardship

85. The legacy gift gold mine

One-third of your direct mail donors have either left a charitable bequest or are considering one

This money will overtake DM revenues in 8-10 years

86. Integrate!

Mail both annual giving appeals with legacy mailings throughout the year.

Take the time to bring the silos down

87. Use a synergy

Of major gift strategy and direct mail tactics

Take the time to cultivate (at least a year)

Ask appropriately

88. Best legacyprospects include

Miss

Loyal

Monthly (mail or phone sourced)

Large single gift

89. Your direct mail donors are open to being cultivated

But they want to hear from you by mail

Dont phone or visit

Let them control the relationship

Theydontwant to feel pressured!

90. Best cultivation packages

Testimonial from a living donor

Vision piece from CEO

Legacy-specific newsletter

Testimonial from surviving loved one

91. Book Tip

Iceberg Philanthropy

By us!

92. Whew! Were done!

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