Multichannel Fundraising

Like a character out of the “Lost” TV series, I  somehow stumbled upon this post from The Positivity Blog. As I read the post, “Do you make these 10 mistakes in a conversation”, I couldn’t help but make the transition to fundraising - especially when speaking to our donors - especially our BIG donors. Here is the article in it’s entirely:

Can you improve your conversation skills? Certainly.

It might take a while to change the conversation habits that’s been ingrained throughout your life, but it is very possible.

To not make this article longer than necessary let’s just skip right to some common mistakes many of us have made in conversations. And a couple of solutions.

Not listening
Ernest Hemingway once said:

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”

Don’t be like most people. Don’t just wait eagerly for your turn to talk. Put your own ego on hold. Learn to really listen to what people actually are saying.

When you start to really listen, you’ll pick up on loads of potential paths in the conversation. But avoid yes or no type of questions as they will not give you much information. If someone mentions that they went fishing with a couple of friends last weekend you can for instance ask:

• Where did you go fishing?
• What do you like most about fishing?
• What did you do there besides fishing?

The person will delve deeper into the subject giving you more information to work with and more paths for you choose from.

Read the rest of this entry »

• The Nonprofit Sector in Brief: Facts and Figures from the Nonprofit Almanac 2007
  Facts and Figures from the Nonprofit Almanac 2007. Link to Urban Institute and downloadable highlights .pdf.
  (tags: nonprofit charity philanthropy)
• In TV Distribution Bout, It’s A Draw
  Both cable and network have survived and grown. Now, listening to major cable research executives, they speak in a different tone these days: Not only is cable growing, but TV viewing as a whole is growing.
  (tags: television trends viewing)
• Just as good at giving: Comparison between US and Europe
  It is an oft-quoted belief in philanthropic circles that the US is years ahead of Europe when it comes to charitable giving. But new research is now calling for a rethink, revealing that Europe’s corporate foundations give more than their American counter
  (tags: philanthropy charity Europe US)
• Are Philanthropic Networks an Effective Method of Giving?
  Philanthropic networks are on the rise. Their aim is to put smaller charities in touch with donors, but some argue they are duplicating existing infrastructure
  (tags: nonprofit philanthropy charity donors)
• No Medium an Island
  Media integration requires the interactive and direct marketing groups work closely together; this may mean cultural or managerial changes. What is acceptable and effective varies from medium to medium. The groups must respect each other’s expertise.
  (tags: interactive web media integration)

While I realize there are many nonprofit organizations using viral campaigns to raise funds, I recently came across one worth a closer look for reasons explained later.  Fight Hunger: Walk the World is conducting viral video contest.  The winner receives a chance to win a trip to film a WFP school feeding project in a developing world. 

Nope, this is not a new story — Beth’s Blog has written about it, as has Netsquared and Citizen Brand (I’m sure I’ve omitted others.)

However, here are my takaways:

• It’s a fresh, new and innovative way to bond a donor to the organization.
• It hits the target audience (youth/young adult) right down-the-middle.  When I showed this to my teenage son, he jumped at the chance to give it a try.  Haven’t seen this much excitement since the PSP.
• The contest pay-off is substantial. The winner receives a filming trip and the video will be used in the upcoming Fight Hunger ad campaign.
• The web site copy sticks to the mission of the organization. “Everyone who enters is a winner because by sharing your creativity you’re joining our global movement to end child hunger by 2015.”  There’s no fluff here to get the reader sidetracked.
• The contest and rules are easily understood and clearly stated.
• Readers can further spread the word about the campaign by adding one of several banner options to websites and blogs. Nice way to extend the idea beyond the contest landing page.
• And in addition to everything else…you can donate to Fight Hunger right from the contest site. If you don’t ask, you won’t get.

Has the public responded?  I dunno.  I searched for the keyword “fhvideo” on YouTube, Google Video, blip.tv and ourmedia.org and didn’t find anything.  I’m sure I was doing something wrong. 

I’d love to hear from others out there that have had success with viral video or photo campaigns.  I guess I’d have to define success, but maybe I’ll let you do that.

Just a quick note to point you to a most excellent article by Peter Deitz, “Social Networking and Group Fundraising.”  Actually, this article points to the main web post, “How to Use the Internet for Group Fundraising”.  Peter has written one of the most practical pieces I’ve read on the subject of how to approach a viral fundraising campaign.  Here’s an excerpt:

In the last four years, the number of websites that help individuals design and implement their own group fundraising campaigns has exploded. Networks of friends, family, and activists can now raise money effecitvely and collectively for any number of causes. But with all the options available, sometimes it is difficult to know which platform to choose and how best to put it to use.

This guide features:

1. 5 questions to ask yourself before starting a fundraising campaign, and
2. 3 factors to consider when choosing a group fundraising platform.

The phenomenon goes by several names: viral fundraising, team fundraising, grassroots fundraising, group fundraising, and even network-centric fundraising. In each case, the concept is the same.

An individual or group creates a page on a website and sets a fundraising goal on behalf of a non-profit organization or project. The initiator then emails friends and family requesting financial support for the cause.

On occasion, friends and family are so enthusiastic that they forward the announcement to their individual networks. Sometimes news of the project reaches the “blogosphere” or catches the attention of a journalist.

Suddenly thousands of people are responding and the fundraising goal is met in record time. Well, that’s the best case scenario. More often than not, close friends, family, and a few anonymous philanthropists come through with the cash needed to meet the fundraising goal.

Very good stuff.  Thanks Peter.

• The line between direct marketing and online marketing is blurring.
  In the “What’s in the Mailbox?” survey, meant to find how to stand apart in a crowded marketing landscape, researchers found that 21% of respondents visited a corresponding Web site within 30 days of receiving direct mail, up from 14% in 200
• (tags: direct marketing Email)
• Bono’s RED campaign drives online traffic to merchants
  Online intelligence service Hitwise reported that 66.3 percent of visits to the Join RED Web site for the week ending Oct. 14 continued on to one of the (Product) RED merchandise partner Web sites.
  (tags: charity nonprofit bono cause marketing)
• Unicef Adapts Fundraising Drive
  With no trick-or-treat coin boxes this year, local Unicef campaign has changed indeed. Is it for the good?
  (tags: UNICEF charity fundraising nonprofit)
• Who’s In Control Of Your E-mail Program?
  THEY SAY A PICTURE IS worth a thousand words. How about a thousand e-mails?
  (tags: email)

 Largest charities saw donations rise 13% in 2005

By Noelle Barton and Holly Hall

Donations to America’s largest charities grew by 13 percent last year, to $62.7- billion, according to The Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 400 Survey.

That increase matches the highest percentage gain in the 16 years that The Chronicle has been ranking the 400 most-successful charities. At the height of the technology boom, in 1999, charities in the Philanthropy 400 achieved a 13.4-percent increase.

All signs suggest that the pace of giving continues to be strong this year: Among 49 charities on the list that projected a rise in 2006 giving, contributions are expected to grow by a median of 13 percent, meaning that half the groups expect a greater increase and half expect less.

(read more)

(I encourage everyone to get this report!) 

San Francisco, October 17, 2006 - The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today released its 2006 Response Rate Trends Report, containing some of the most sought-after data on the benchmarks of successful direct marketing campaigns.

“In providing research and information about direct marketing, our most asked questions are what is a typical response rate and what channel will yield the best response for a particular direct marketing campaign,” said Anna Chernis, DMA’s senior research manager. “This report provides a dependable and robust benchmark for a wide range of industries and campaign types.”

In the report, four direct marketing objectives are isolated and reported on separately: direct order, lead generation, traffic building, and fundraising. The report also provides breakouts by direct marketing channel and type of list used (house file vs. prospect), as well as the market (consumer vs. business-to-business) and the industry being advertised.

Among the findings of this year’s report: · Direct Order & Fundraising: For direct marketers whose primary objective was to solicit direct-order sales or motivate customers to make a contribution, Catalog (2.30%) and Direct Mail (2.18%) produced the highest response rates.

Lead Generation: Telephone (2.60%) and E-mail (2.45%) produced the highest response rates for direct marketers whose primary objective was to generate leads.

Traffic Building: Catalog (10.34%) and Telephone (7.83%) have the highest response rates for traffic building, although these figures are based on a small sample of only five campaigns for Catalog and four campaigns for Telephone.

House File v. Prospects: House-file campaigns generally outperformed prospecting campaigns.

Consumer v. Business-to-Business Markets: When used for direct-order generation and fundraising, Direct Mail and Catalog work better in consumer markets. Other media, however, reported their highest response rates in the business-to-business market. Lead-generation and traffic-building campaigns both reported higher response rates for consumer audiences vs. B-to-B. Seven Media, 19 Industry Categories, 30 Products & Services.

The DMA 2006 Response Rate Trends Report includes data for more than 1,500 campaigns received in 2004, 2005 and 2006. For the first time, the report includes trend overviews. The report looks at seven media channels that may have been used solo or in combination to achieve specific campaign objectives: direct mail (flat), catalog, e-mail, inserts, outbound telephone, newspaper, and magazine. In addition, information is provided for 19 major industry categories consistent with the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), as well as a selection of 30 specific products and services.

The full report is priced at $245 for DMA members ($445 for non-members). It can be ordered through DMA Book Distribution Center by calling 1.800.344.8328 (US) or +1.610.461.3548 (internationally) and online at www.the-dma.org/bookstore.

Source: Direct Marketing Association

An interesting 2006 DMA Conference article from DM News highlights multichannel marketing’s critical role in reaching today’s consumers and the resulting challenges to determine response metrics.  Again, when I read articles such as this I think of how we speak to donors or prospective donors.  More than ever before, donors are in tune to various “frequencies” of possible response transmissions — direct mail, interactive, online, print, broadcast, face-to-face.  Determining how “signals” work together, and how to attribute proper response metrics for each message transmission is getting difficult to accurately track.  From the article:

Casey Carey, senior vice president of Abacus Alliance Solutions, the multichannel database arm of Abacus, spoke to the number of complications that can arise as the available points of purchase and cross-channel marketing efforts increase.

“I say one thing about multichannel marketing and that’s just: complexity,” Mr. Casey said.

By first separating a company’s offer channels from its response channels, marketers can focus budget planning around the offer channels to decide which media mix is the most effective, he said.

It’s my experience that donors are becoming more adept at moving between response channels before making a final donation decision.  As well, today’s fundraising professionals are beginning to move beyond the endless testing of small things in traditional channels (e.g. 1st class stamp versus bulk rate postage) and are putting more thinking around determining how individual fundraising efforts work together to create the desired response.