« Donor InSite Has Been on Holiday  •  links for 2007-02-13 »

Moving beyond direct marketing in our fundrasing

February 8, 2007 in General Fundraising, Nonprofit, Blog

Thanks to everyone who wrote me this past month or so.  Your encouragement meant a lot to me.  Being in the agency business, as I have been for the past 25 years, can be one of the most exciting…and challenging of professions.  Expecially for those of us who get the privilege to work with great people in the realm of the not-for-profit sector.  However, some times we need to put our heads down and get the work done…even if a little blog like this suffers a bit.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ve found, as many of you have, that it’s all about forming deep, lasting relationships - with marketers such as yourselves, and with donors we serve.  We used to call it “bonding the donor to the organization.”  These days, it’s more like connecting a donor to the organization.  That is, developing strong connections no matter where the donor is in the relationship lifecycle.  Let’s face it, when people really connect with each other, that’s when the magic happens.  Here’s a little clip from the dictionary. 

Connect:

1.  to join, link, or fasten together; unite or bind: to connect the two cities by a bridge; Communication satellites   connect the local stations into a network.
2. to establish communication between; put in communication: Operator, will you please connect me with Mr. Jones?
3. to have as an accompanying or associated feature: pleasures connected with music.
4. to cause to be associated, as in a personal or business relationship: to connect oneself with a group of like-minded persons; Our bank is connected with major foreign banks.
5. to associate mentally or emotionally: She connects all telegrams with bad news.

I’m starting to think of it as “connect marketing”, not direct marketing.  Yes, connect marketing is direct marketing, or rather uses the disciplines we have come to understand in direct marketing.  However, connect marketing goes beyond that and looks at establishing, not a $35 donation once or twice a year, or even a monthly pledge, but a connection across multiple touch-points. 

The very essence of connection speaks to increases in Long-Term-Donor-Value.  To the propensity for volunteerism, event participation, legacy giving and so on.  Establishing a real connection, that which springs from somewhere other than the pocketbook, is tough to dis-connect. Trust me, I want the connection to include the pocketbook because I know that this can be an outward expression of an inward heart-felt need.

And so I want to say thank to all of you that took the time to connect with me and to say how much you appreciated the stuff this blog is made of.  You’ll probably hear more about my thoughts on connect marketing, as I’d love to hear yours.

Cheers.

 

Tags: , ,