On the face of it, we aspire to the impossible.
Our marketing proposition: give us your hard-earned money … and get nothing in return.
The good news: It works.
People share your goals and want to give you their money to help you achieve them.
When people are asked why they never gave to a cause before now, the answer is often “nobody asked.” You’ve heard that one, I’m sure.
When we think about fundraising as a marketing endeavor, let’s acknowledge that the desire people have to give you money isn’t all that different than their desire to buy something.
Any ask (or sales pitch) will work when people have some predisposition to give to your cause (or purchase your product). It’s all in the list.
You don’t want to try to sell skateboards to the AARP. You don’t want to ask NRA members to contribute to the Brady Campaign.
But when you deliver the right message to the audience with the right predisposition, you’ll get gifts (or sell skateboards). They actually like the proposition and are ready to buy into it.
I just had my 679th discussion with an organization about how often to communicate with donors. They, like most of the first 678, were afraid of mailing too often and/or sending too many emails.
Here’s a good reason to mail more: Your donors like you and believe in your cause. That’s why they give away their hard-earned money and expect nothing in return.
Many organizations I’ve worked with mail donors 13 times a year. (And email often, too.) This works because:
… Donors like to hear from you. Note: They may not like to be bluntly asked for money too often. But is there such a thing as being thanked too often? And don’t you always thank them before asking for money again? And they do like to be kept informed. That’s one way they participate in your mission.
… Donors don’t open all your mail. God bless them, they’re busy. They day Aunt Bee is coming to town or the bridge club is meeting or the cat died or they’re just distracted, they don’t open that envelope. When you mail to 1,000 donors and 80 send money, how many said “No!” to your appeal. Few. Maybe nobody. The other 920 just didn’t get around to reading your letter.
… When you don’t mail, others may beat you to the donor’s dollar. If you’re an environmental cause, for example, or animal welfare, your donor is being approached by dozens of other organizations with appeals not entirely dissimilar from your own. If Mrs. Jones just gave to another, she might not have anything left for you. And after reading 12 similar appeals, she’s getting a little hazy on just exactly who you are. Mailing more often increases the likelihood that your letter will be in her hand the day her heart is warm and wallet full.
So you can probably mail more often. If you’re mailing once a year, try twice. If quarterly go to bimonthly. Etc.
You do have one good reason not to mail more: return on investment.
As you increase frequency, you simply may not get enough gifts to offset the cost of mailing. Especially if your donor file is 20,000 or less.
One way to increase contacts and optimize return on investment is to make sure you’re gaining as many donations as you can via each contact.
Look at your newsletter. Do you have a clear call for contributions and an easy way to donate? Are you binding in a reply envelope with a reply form bangtail?
Are you mailing the newsletter in an envelope with a letter? If not, try this. Your letter can be personalized, with a perfed personalized reply form. I’ve seen cases where newsletters that used to lose money started to generate net revenue when sent in an envelope with a solid appeal letter.
And if you’re mailing your newsletter in an envelope at a loss, consider going to a self-mailer with a bound-in reply form and envelope. This works for many groups, too.
If you’re sending an electronic newsletter, do you have a clickable image in the upper right that lets donors easily make a gift? If not, try this. Seems to be the key way to drive gifts.
The “Answer to Everything” is that people DO want to give you money. They support your cause and want to help you win. So look at all your touch points and make sure your giving them every opportunity you can.