Wears Her Heart On Her Sleeve

August 31, 2007

Ellen Church at Craver, Mathews, Smith & Company sent us some heartfelt thoughts after reading the NY Times editorial on the latest government figures on income disparity in America.

Commenting on the reality that in 2006, after six years of sustained economic growth, 36.5 million Americans were living in poverty — 5 million more than six years before (at the end of the last recession), the NYT says:

“The economic party is winding down and most working Americans never even got near the punch bowl … And what is perhaps most disturbing is that it appears this is as good as it's going to get.”

Says Ellen:

“Why are nonprofits that serve America's needy so important? Read this editorial from today's New York Times that quotes the new census bureau data on income and poverty.

CMS is proud to serve compassionate causes such as Habitat for Humanity, City Harvest, Project HOPE and Heifer International who serve the needy here in the US. With the rising gap between those who live in poverty and those of us who are fortunate enough to make a decent living wage, we honor those organizations who make a difference in the lives of children and families here at home.

So thank you to the groups I am honored to partner with and to so many others of you out there such as The Salvation Army, America's Second Harvest, Covenant House, Christian Appalachian Project, Operation Smile, Catholic Relief Services and so many more. Without the daily devotion and dedicated efforts of groups like yours and your leadership, volunteers and donors — America's impoverished children and families would never have the hope for a better life.

And to those groups who lobby for higher minimum wages, free health care, improved education in our nation's public schools, civil rights for immigrants with and without documentation, and a fighting chance for a better quality of life for those who still seek that old American Dream, I salute you.”

Excellent reflections as we rest from our labors over the holiday weekend.

Roger & Tom

Disclaimer: Roger is founder and maintains an interest in CMS.

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Damn Yankees!

August 30, 2007

With apologies in advance for our more proper readers …

Some fundraising ideas are just soooo good all we can do is stand back and applaud.

Here's one from The Nonprofiteer, one of our favorite “in-your-face” bloggers …

“Or how about … making thousands of dollars by standing outside ballparks selling t-shirts that say: “Yuck the Fankees”? Any charity in Boston that can't make money with this between Labor Day and Columbus Day just isn't trying.”

Indeed, this might serve as the anchor for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's new $400 million capital campaign … we hear they do a mean rendition of “Take me out to the ballgame.”

Roger & Tom

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Testing Website Usability

August 29, 2007

You wouldn't blitz a major direct mail acquisition package to hundreds of thousands of prospects without testing, would you? I hope not!

Then why would you offer a website — probably your major gateway to the public (and your members) these days — without testing its effectiveness with real live users?

This article from ClickZ Network reminds us of the importance of what's called “usability testing” in the web world. We're talking about observing facial expressions, body language, keystrokes, eye-tracking, direct feedback on abandonment factors and other frustrations.

The article points to guidelines from three of the gurus in the field — Jakob Nielsen, Jared Spool and Eric Schaffer.

If you're really serious about your web investment — like spending more than $100K on web staff and operations — and you haven't put your site through usability testing, you oughta be fired. If you're lower budget, at least check out the expert websites and see what has been learned.

Tom

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Making First Impressions

August 28, 2007

Unfortunately, your nonprofit might have literally only one or two interactions with a new donor or member before they tune out and disappear forever.

So first impressions indeed matter, whether delivered by mail, telephone or email.

In most cases, your second opportunity to make a “first impression” is when you acknowledge the donor's initial gift … your welcome letter, call or email.

Increasingly that second contact is an email.

Here, from the commercial world (Avenue A/Razorfish), is some useful advice on making as positive an impression as possible with your welcome email. The core principles apply to the nonprofit fundraising setting — personalize, reinforce benefits, include a call to action of some kind — plus some considerations unique to the online medium.

And as one commenter noted, it's also smart to establish some expectation about how future contacts might unfold — e.g., likely content, frequency. Even better, provide your donor with some options to customize the communications flow.

Worth a look.

Tom

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Video Rules The World

August 27, 2007

A new study commissioned by IBM reports that, for the first time, people are spending more hours per week in front of their computer screens than watching TV.

A lot of these hours are spent increasingly on watching online video. According to comScore, 136 million folks watched over 9 billion video streams in June. 3 out of 4 U.S. internet users streamed video online in May, watching more than 2.5 hours of video online. The Pew Internet Project comes up with 57% of internet users (75% of broadband users) watching online video, with 57% sharing video links and 15% watching political videos (lots of user profile data here too).

Everything from full-length feature films to time-shifted TV shows to how-to-do-it videos to Obamagirl to your Uncle Ernie singing “I'm Popeye the Sailor Man” in full costume. According to the NY Times, niche online video networks are blossoming.

In terms of content, there's nothing inherently better about video watched online. As just noted, much of the material is simply re-purposed from traditional sources.

What is important, especially for nonprofits with a story to tell, and sell, is the affordable and unlimited reach of this medium.

Arguably, online video is the ultimate medium for delivering stories, making them readily available to anyone, anywhere, anytime. And stories are what engage people, motivate them and, of course, sell them.

Indeed, people are beginning to build online video collections, just as they previously collected books, National Geographics, records, CDs (and some, records again!). Seth Godin points to his personal collection of online business videos, and to a new service for organizing and sharing an online video collection. He argues that people who will never read a 200 page book will happily watch a three minute video on the same subject.

I submit the same is true of that newsletter your nonprofit is so proud of, and other static copy you produce … brochures, annual reports, etc.

The times — and media of choice — are a-changin' and your communications team and marketers need to master the video medium. You need to begin video recording and presenting your stories online. The two historical reasons for not producing video — “It's too expensive and there's no way to distribute it anyway” — have been blown out of the water.

Now it's simply a question of talent and strategic vision. If you don't have those on your team, better get some!

Tom

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Nonprofit Accountability Rules 1 & 2

August 24, 2007

I noticed in Fundraising Success Advisor this summary of a well-done white paper, Accountability Matters: Without Public Trust, Nonprofits Wouldn't Exist.

The paper, downloadable here, was authored by Liz Marenakos at Blackbaud. It deals with the fundamentals of ethical financial management and reporting. To most Agitator readers this is probably pretty basic stuff — audit procedures, accurate donation recording, spending controls, written financial procedures, timely and transparent reporting, etc. Still, a good reference point to have around.

Honest and transparent financial management and reporting — meeting Rule #1 — is just the minimum requirement for nonprofits to satisfy as they seek to be fully accountable to donors and other stakeholders.

Far more challenging — and what should separate the above-average nonprofit from the pack — is meeting the test of actual performance against claims. That's the real substantive nub of nonprofit accountability. Let's call this meeting Rule #2.

Every nonprofit makes a claim — one that competes with thousands of others — on the finite pool of philanthropic dollars. One way or the other, that claim includes a simple assertion that, if you the donor give us your money, we will achieve X.

Not only does the donor believe that his or her gift will actually be applied to the specified goal (and we all know that many nonprofits play “fast and loose” with that one, especially groups funded via small gift direct response), but also that their favored nonprofit has an efficacious strategy and program for achieving the goal.

That sounds pretty straightforward.

But time after time we see nonprofits fail at meeting Rule #2, either in fact or in perception. There are many ways this can happen …

  • Their efforts turn out to be less effective or successful than they “promised” their donors … an outcome the nonprofit is less than candid about. This can be a matter of over-promising or under-delivering, or both.
  • Or the group is embarked on a risky strategy or a new experiment (neither necessarily to be faulted), but hasn't been quite forthright about the untested nature of its course.
  • Or, the group fails to identify and measure appropriate metrics to substantiate its progress.
  • Or the group simply fails to communicate effectively the successes it does achieve.
    [I once paid a consultant to tell me: “It's the results, stupid!” That sounded at first like a big DUH! But when we looked hard at our communications, guess what? Our results were buried.]

So even if your financial management is beyond reproach, you can still let your donors down — fail to use their funds accountably — by over-claiming, by not being explicit about strategies (thus, they can't be examined), by not measuring, by not being candid, by not informing.

Not everything your organization attempts will be successful. That's not a sin. But dishonesty in whatever form about the progress you are making is a sin … a violation of Accountability Rule #2.

Tom

P.S. For more on nonprofit accountability, search our tag, Measuring Up.

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Do You Have A Facebook Plan?

August 23, 2007

Facebook is rapidly becoming the social networking site of choice for middle-aged, well-off, professionals.

If your nonprofit doesn't yet have a Facebook face, maybe you should be thinking about it. Facebook is adding 150,000 new users a day. Here are two articles to stir your pot.

A recent Business Week article titled “Fogeys Flock to Facebook” talks about the site's demographics. Given Facebook's original focus on college students and alumni, it has always attracted an older and more educated demographic than other leading social net sites.

The Fogeys piece reports that the 35+ crowd now accounts for more than 41% of all Facebook visitors (this translated into 11.5 million visitors in June, more than double over the previous June). And more than 48% of Facebook visitors in June came from households with incomes over $75,000.

Sounds like a decent audience to reach!

How? Here, courtesy of TechSoup is a “Beginner's Guide” to using Facebook for promoting your cause or charity.

Get Facebookin!

Tom

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Lessons In Copywriting

August 22, 2007

Beginning with a critique of email spam from the standpoint of effective copywriting, direct mail wiz Denny Hatch winds up reminding us of the most fundamental principles of the copywriting craft.

For example:

  • The letter is all about “You” copy — it's a highly emotional, personal message from the writer to the reader that translates the action sought into benefits for you the reader.
  • Flattery is one of the most proven copy drivers there is — according to one expert, flattery was the key to 42% of all the persisting controls in his mail archives.
    [You've gotten them: “You are one of a special group of brilliant, caring visionaries to receive …” I fell for one in 1970. Written by, you guessed it … Roger Craver. It got me to join Common Cause, who subsequently gave me my first job. See, it pays to read junk mail!]
  • The other key drivers are fear, greed, guilt, anger, exclusivity, and salvation.
  • Always tell a story — since before writing was invented, humans were hard-wired to listen to stories.

It's entertaining — and educational — to see Denny pick apart his spam because it's so poorly written.

Tom

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Email Boosts Response For Breast Cancer Walks

August 21, 2007

Traditional media has always been used to support the National Philanthropic Trust's Breast Cancer 3-Day, a 60-mile-walk fundraiser.

Typically, TV, radio, billboards and newspapers would be used to build awareness, and direct mail would then “close the sale” in terms of signing-up participants. But mail was beginning to fall off in effectiveness.

So the Trust built an email prospect list and introduced a four-contact email series into the marketing mix. A test scheme was set up to enable accurate assessment of ROI from mail versus email solicitation.

The result: Nearly three times as many consumers who received the email series became walkers or donors than those who received the two postal mail pieces. Overall, even with an increase in overall campaign spending over the previous year, their ROI increased 30%.

Clickthrough rates averaged around 18% and open rates about 6.5%.

A very nice example of smart multi-channel integrated marketing … with careful testing to learn from.

If you get to this email by August 22, the campaign is described in greater detail on Marketing Sherpa here. [Otherwise you need to be a Marketing Sherpa subscriber.]

Roger & Tom

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No Mercy Shown

August 20, 2007

At the recent DMA Nonprofit Conference, Jennifer Donahue of NARAL presented her strategy for successful integration of direct response fundraising channels.

As reported by Fundraising Success, one element of NARAL's fundraising credo is: “No mercy shown the donor (be vigilant and consistent in staying connected to your donor base).” This along with the advice to shepherd donors through the channels “because you know them better than they know themselves.”

Really?!

Over the years, I've heard donors (and nonprofit boards) voice plenty of complaints about over-solicitation. But what did “we” (fundraising consultants and nonprofit staffs conspiring together) usually continue to do? Keep right on soliciting, because “the data” indicated that enough donors would keep on responding to make the process cost-effective.

How many of you have struggled to come up with yet one more “special appeal” topic?!

To be sure, smarter fundraisers learned to segment their files, so as to waste less money and effort on less responsive donors. But still, the ethos has always been, re-solicit, re-solicit, re-solicit till the ROI on the segment breaks down.

How many donors are fatally alienated in this process, hidden by the aggregate data? Who knows. Those donors who fell by the wayside are considered chaff anyway.

My thinking on this has evolved over the years.

I wouldn't “mail them til they drop” anymore to squeeze out every last dollar of net income.

I think a wiser strategy these days would be to work my butt off to:

  • identify my historic sources of highest value donors, and prospect those sources as deeply as possible;
  • test and push my initial acquisition “ask” to the highest $$ level feasible;
  • try everything I possibly can to move new donors into monthly giving programs;
  • mail no “special” appeal that I wouldn't donate to myself;
  • line up enough major donors to make every special appeal a “matching gift” appeal;
  • educate donors about the true cost of doing business (to support higher dollar asks and gifts — $10, $15, $20, $30, $50 … where does the wheat begin these days, particularly in direct mail and phone solicitation?);
  • beg — absolutely beg! — donors to move their giving online;
  • build my direct marketing program to recover the acquisition cost of each new donor within one year (organizations and consultants have been stretching this “break-even” period longer and longer … just kidding themselves).

The best posture to be in today is to be candid with the donor. Sure, push every button you can with integrity to get that next or additional gift, but do it in a context like this (not necessarily this phraseology) …

Let's not kid each other … saving the world costs more than a cup of coffee. We need donors who will make the deepest commitment they can. Join us if you can make that kind of commitment. We'll use your gift wisely. Here's how.

If I were talking face-to-face with each prospect, I'd be tempted to say:

“We'd love to have your support, but realistically, if you can't commit at least $?? over the coming year, we're not really going to get the job done. I'll spend more effort begging you to give than I will saving the world … and neither of us will feel good about it.”

Will some donors complain in a focus group about over-solicitation and then still make multiple gifts? Sure. Is that healthy? No.

The consumer environment is changing to the point where “customers” expect their preferences to be respected … and abandon ship with alacrity when they are not. They have plenty of options. They occasionally run into satisfying customer experiences, and the bar gets raised for everyone else, including nonprofit marketers.

So you can continue to “slash and burn” your way through your house file if you like. Show them no mercy. Your “net” might look good for awhile longer. But IMHO, you are doing your organization a disservice, and soon the “data” will turn sour.

Tom

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