1

Direct Mail Direct Mail Fundraising in 2008:Fundraising in 2008:

Good News/Bad Good News/Bad NewsNews

Figures, Forecast, Figures, Forecast, and Focusand Focus

2

Good News FiguresGood News Figures

According to Giving USA 2008: Charitable giving exceeded $300 billion

in 2007 for the first time in history Giving rose by 3.9 percent in 2007

3

Good News FiguresGood News Figures

According to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll: 3 of 4 dollars donated in 2007 came from

individuals; the rest were from corporations, foundations and charitable bequests

90% of people 65 and older donated money to a charity in the past year

8 in 10 Americans donated money or volunteered time to a charity in the past year

4

Good News FiguresGood News Figures

Non-Profit Times says 8 out of 10 appeals are opened and looked at; direct mail still is the best-read medium

Vertis’ Customer Focus Poll, Non-Profit:59% who give use direct mail for philanthropy62% say the most important factor is the

personalized nature of appeals; 59% say timing; special offer 32%; urgency 30%

5

Good News/Bad News FiguresGood News/Bad News Figures

In a survey conducted by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University:

Fundraisers experienced more success with direct mail in the first half of 2008 than they predicted last December.

All other fundraising techniques met with less success than predicted.

6

Bad News FiguresBad News Figures

According to the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll: 66% of Americans expected to donate

the same or more this year as they did last year, but 72% said their finances would affect their philanthropy.

U.S. companies donated an average of 0.8% of their pretax profits in 2007, down from 1.4% in 2004.

7

Bad News FiguresBad News Figures

The top 8% of households based on income and wealth, which is responsible for more than 50 percent of charitable giving, have been most affected by the current economic crisis.

Only 6% of all households gave online last year, according to Giving USA

8

Forecast: Partly CloudyForecast: Partly Cloudy

According to Boston College's Center on Wealth and Philanthropy:

Charitable giving levels may not be affected as much or for as long as feared;

Because high-net worth donors tend to plan their contributions a year ahead, the full impact to giving levels may not be felt until next year

Decline in total donations this year may not be significant

9

Forecast: Potentially StormyForecast: Potentially Stormy

The Perfect “F” Storm: food prices, fuel prices, financial uncertainty, falling employment figures

If incomes decline significantly, the impact on charitable donations is likely to be much greater than it has been so far this year.

10

Focus on: Turning Prospects Focus on: Turning Prospects into Donors with Direct Mailinto Donors with Direct Mail Mission clarity: What are your goals? Organizational effectiveness: how efficient

are you in fulfilling your mission? Testimonials and endorsements: use a

powerful story from someone who has been helped in a tangible way; get endorsements from celebrities whose support lends credibility.

11

Turning Prospects into DonorsTurning Prospects into Donors

Impact made by the gift: specifically, how will you put donations to work over the next 12 months?

Values: clearly demonstrated ideals of your organization will coincide with their own, bolstering the case for support.

12

Turning Prospects into DonorsTurning Prospects into Donors

Accomplishments: what did you achieve with donated funds in the past 6-12 months?

Transparency: openness builds trust; show them the money!

Educate, but don’t forget to ASK. Evaluate your results.

13

Direct Mail Prospecting SummaryDirect Mail Prospecting Summary

Mission clarity

Organizational effectiveness

Testimonials and endorsements

Impact made by the gift

Values

Accomplishments

Transparency

Educate and evaluate results

14

Focus On: Improving the Long- Focus On: Improving the Long- Term Value of Your DonorsTerm Value of Your Donors Recognize the relationship and make a

big deal about it: Acknowledge the contribution with a thank you note. Send a new donor welcome kit.

Engage using meaningful content delivered through multi-channel efforts — newsletters, regular updates, surveys, tax statements, invitations.

15

Focus On: Improving the Long- Focus On: Improving the Long- Term Value of Your DonorsTerm Value of Your Donors New and easy ways of giving should be

introduced: pledge opportunities, honor/memorial, monthly, and planned giving options.

Earn trust with operational openness; document your good stewardship.

16

Focus On: Improving the Long- Focus On: Improving the Long- Term Value of Your DonorsTerm Value of Your Donors Widen the scope of your existing programs

or add new ones — a static organization loses support of donors over time.

Ask again within 6 months of the first gift, suggesting reasonable upgrades. Analyze results.

Listen to donors. Regularly solicit feedback about what they want.

17

Donor Cultivation SummaryDonor Cultivation Summary

Recognize the relationship

Engage

New ways of giving

Earn their trust

Widen the scope of your programs or add new ones

Ask again within 6 months and analyze results

Listen to them

18

Focus On: Letter ContentFocus On: Letter Content

For older donors: use stories to elicit an emotional response

For Gen X and Gen Y: report results, detail plans and offer involvement options

For Baby Boomers: use both emotional and factual approach

For all audiences, include details on where their donations go

19

Focus On: Letter LengthFocus On: Letter Length

Emotional copy should be longer Fact-based copy should be shorter Graphics: Use pie charts to demonstrate

good stewardship Current trends favor shorter letters, due to

influence of Internet and E-mail, but… Be sure you have made a clear case for

the benefits of giving to your organization

20

Focus On: Letter StyleFocus On: Letter Style

Don’t obsess about sentence structure… make it conversational and readable

Keep paragraphs short – 5 lines or less Use 11 or 12 point type Preserve white space with good margins

and generous line spacing

21

Focus On: Making Your CaseFocus On: Making Your Case

To make a solid case for support, describe how your experience, achievements and plans will: Save lives, Improve lives, Create hope for the future, Achieve greater cost efficiency, Expand programs to do more, and… How this will be of potential benefit to donor

22

Focus On: the Ask in the LetterFocus On: the Ask in the Letter

Personalize the ask based on donor history For donors, try to work in a “soft” ask by

paragraph 3 Ask should be in the last or penultimate

paragraph Repeat the soft ask in the P.S., unless you

have something more compelling to relate, such as a challenge grant

23

Focus On: Setting Achievable Focus On: Setting Achievable GoalsGoals

Limit acquisition to renewable new donors Choose one: growth in donor file or

revenue? Keep to schedule and stay on course until

results are clear

24

Focus On: Reducing the BudgetFocus On: Reducing the Budget

Allocate resources where they will most impact ROI – maximize efforts to core donors

Carefully monitor your lapsed segments by year of lapsed to reduce risk of over-mailing

Mail conservatively to event attendees Keep data clean and updated Think twice before giving away premiums or

enclosing non-essential inserts

25

Focus On: Reducing the BudgetFocus On: Reducing the Budget

Be judicious in your use of color For larger mailings, make sure your

package can be inserted by machine Confirm that your package will qualify for

USPS automation discounts Use first class mail only for your major

donors

26

Focus On:Focus On: Long-Term SuccessLong-Term Success

Find ways to elicit multiple, upgraded gifts from each donor: Acknowledge gifts Send welcome kits to new donors Ask again within 6 months Offer secure on-line and monthly giving options Send Newsletters or other updates Provide year-end tax statements Promote Leadership Giving Levels Give good reasons for donors to upgrade;

acknowledge when they do Multi-channel marketing – do it now!

27

Focus On: Short-Term StrategyFocus On: Short-Term Strategy

Look for Challenge Grant opportunities – donors will appreciate the positive effects of compounding their gift

Stress planned giving, gifts of real estate, life insurance, and other types of donations as an alternative to giving cash or stock

Emergency Appeals for Social Service organizations – now is the time, but don’t over-use it!

28

Focus On: Short-Term StrategyFocus On: Short-Term Strategy

Focus on donor’s emotional identification – their sense of caring. Donors who are able to give more will upgrade to compensate for others who can no longer afford to contribute.

55% of Americans said friends and family have the most influence on their decision to give to a charity, so cultivate your donors!

29

Fundraising is a marathon, not a sprint.

Use every technique available to you to generate a gift, but don’t conclude success or failure on immediate results alone.

You’re in it for the long haul … your ROIs are profitable only when you’ve started the renewal phase.

Organizational patience, foresight and fortitude will reward you in the end!

ConclusionConclusion

30

Contact:Contact:

For more information or for permission, please contact Marcia Scowcroft.