Fundraising through Direct Mail – tools & techniques for getting results

Yogesh Aggarwal

November 28 – 30, 2012 India International Centre, New Delhi

Direct Mail Failure Stories & Nightmares

Stories & Excuses ?

• Story :– Did 1,00,000 mailers and got 10 donors– Spent 10 Lakh and got donations of 1 Lakh – Thousands of mails came return

• Explanations– Useless List : Of List Owner– Bad Creative – By previous Guy – Not the correct profile of people– Not the correct time

Are you Serious ?

• Where is your Plan ?

• Where is your Testing Strategy ?

• Where is your Scale Up Strategy?

• Where is your List Owner ?

• Where is your mailing Agent?

• Where is your Creative Guy ?

• Where are you ?

New Marketing World

Choosing Media

  Advantages Disdvantages

Email Faster and cheaper for tests Primarily reaches to value seekers

    Doesn’t covers most of wealthy    Has limited shelf life

   Reach is limied to individual to whom it is sent

Telecall More persuasive Negative Image    Slow reach    Doesn’t reach welthy     DND SMS Fast & cheaper Negligible shelf life    Not enough space to communicate    Doesn’t reach welthy     DND 

Choosing Media

  Advantages Disdvantages

Email Faster and cheaper for tests Primarily reaches to value seekers

    Doesn’t cover most of wealthy    Has limited shelf life

   Reach is limied to individual to whom it is sent

Telecall More persuasive Negative Image    Slow reach    Doesn’t reach welthy     DND SMS Fast & cheaper Negligible shelf life    Not enough space to communicate    Doesn’t reach welthy     DND 

  Advantages DisdvantagesDirect Mail  High initial cost Reaches ALL 

    Lot of space to communicate

    Cuts clutter

    No DND issues

    Helps build brand

    Read by multiple people at home

Better Retention of Donors

Choosing Media

Direct Mail Status Report

• Only 2 % people in India receive mailings at least once a week and 95 % less than once a month. On average, 20 % of respondents in Asia receive them once a week and more.

• Those lucky enough to receive mailings in India also read them: 96 % of recipients have an affinity for them..

Changing your direct mail strategy in today’s world

• Planning – Have a 3 Year Plan instead of looking into 1

year – Use Advance Analytics

• Analyse be City• Analyse of Time Axis• Analyse of Occasion Axis• Analyse on Location Axis

Changing your direct mail strategy in today’s world

• Lists – Come out of HNI syndrome

• Analyze your donors / respondents to the extent of – Localities– Age– Cause for Donation

HNI Syndrome

• 100 % database queries are for HNI • 100% companies want to target HNI • Define HNI ? • How Do you connect to HNI?• Is HNI your Target segment?• Is being HNI so important ? • What is your expectations ?• Purchase Behaviour- It’s not the money that responds

but the profile and lifestyle of a person which does.• Target the group by Profile, Educational balance…..

Largely a Psychographic study of the TA

Changing your direct mail in today’s world - Creative

• Connected Mailers, Launch Series of Mails – Repeat every 2 weeks to same set of customer– e.g

• Series 1: What you need in Life ? Lot of Cash

• Series 2 : What do you need in Life ? Lot of Time

• Series 3 : What do you need in Life ?To Live

• 3 D Mails : Token Gifts / Handouts• Something Different

– Experience that cannot be given in E-marketing

Response Mechanism

• Post is no good any more.

• Have collection alternatives– SMS for collection– Call Back – Cheque pickups– Drop Boxes– Online– Follow with calling

DM Flow

Fundraising through Direct Mail – tools & techniques for getting results

November 28 – 30, 2012 India International Centre, New Delhi

Why Direct Mail ?

• Prospect for new Donors

• Establish and maintain relationships

• Generate donor/customer loyalty

• Solicit potential donors

• Communicate information

The 21st Century Donor

• Less committed• More access to information• More of a ‘consumer’ – less loyal• More demanding – asking questions

that are difficult to answer• More negative

Definition of “Good Mail”

• Tangible, personal communication• Connect with the recipient in striking

way• Compelling fill, look, line of copy etc.

that makes the recipient feel important

People like to get Direct Mail

• What is the first thing you do when you come home ?

• Most people short mail into 2 piles:– Relevant

• It’s personal• They know something about me

A good offer sent to the right person

– Junk• Stuff that’s not for me• Goes right into the dustbin

A good offer sent to the wrong person

The Beginning………

Direct Mail Components•Creative/Design•Lists/Database•Data processing•Personalisation•Offer/Donation•Production

Mailers-The concept behind them

To Create Awareness

• Mailer should contain facts which are authentic and transparent.

• A reference on the statistics of above facts i.g. 90 million people are Senior Citizens

• Supported by visual aides i.e. Pictures etc.

• Availability of tax exemption on donation.

• Telling a story so that it touches the heart of the prospective donor.

• A message to relate the above story with the ground situation.

• Designing a mailer with pictures and gadgets.

To Build Sympathy

Making the appeal a success

• Targeting the right people

• Timing

• The message and its authenticity

• Cost effectiveness

• Authentic and good database

MAILING PHILOSOPHY

• Contents of the Mailer.

• Types of Mailers.

• Mailing Methodology (Direct/Tie-up/ Electronic /Door to Door).

• Factors for Success/Failure Of Mailers.

Types of Mailers• General Purpose Mailers– Sent through out the year– Contains information about the organisation, its

goals, an appeal and a reply coupon.• Festival Mailers– Sent during a particular festival

• Specific Purpose Mailers– Sent for a specific purpose like earthquake,

cyclone, epidemic out-break and special events etc.

• Chain Mailers– Could be specific or general mailer with a

provision for the receiver to suggest names and addresses of other persons who would be interested in our cause.

WHY PEOPLE RESPOND TO FUNDRAISING APPEALS

People send money because :

• You ask them to.

• They have money available to give away.

• They are in the habit of sending money by mail.

• They support organisations like yours.

• Their gifts will make a difference.

WHY PEOPLE RESPOND TO FUNDRAISING APPEALS

• You recognize them for their gifts.

• You give them tax concession.

• You enable them to “do something” about a critical problem.

• You help them learn about a complex and interesting problem or issue.

WHY PEOPLE RESPOND TO FUNDRAISING APPEALS

• They feel it is their duty.

• They believe it is a blessing to do so.

Address Labels visible from back

of envelope

Direct Mail Pack

• OME (Outer Mailing Envelope)

• An appeal letter

• Donation Coupon

• BRE (Business Reply Envelope)

• Leaflet

• Lift Letter

• Premiums

Other Direct Mail Aspects

• Cold Mail v/s Warm Mail

• Thank you Mail

• Response Rates

• Profitability-RoI

Direct Mail

•Lift Letter•Warm Mail•BRE•Banks’ high net worth client lists•Gold card / Diner card lists•Good Magazine subscription lists•Newsletter / Annual Report•Tax-mail•Stories

Direct Mail

• Reckless Cold Mail

• Improper gap

• CA/Doctor/Lawyer lists

• Pictures of distress

• Couriers ?

Lists/Database

Remember that the List/database accounts for as much as

40% to 60%

of the success of a mailing

What is Marketing Database ?

A marketing database is the collection of information which helps you to spend your

marketing budgets more efficiently.

The Wrong List/Database

• Great Offer• Beautiful Copy• Good Design• Strong ‘Call to Action’

The Wrong List/Database

The Key to Lists Selection

Find out as much as possible about the present

customers/donors…. then get as many more prospects as you can

who are just like them !

Know your data

• How much people give ?

• How often they give ?

• How recently they gave ?

• Why they give ?

• Where they live ?

• How long they stay ?

Things to Consider• Where the donor located ?

– 3 miles radius, city, state, nationwide, etc.• Do they have certain demographics ?

– Families, Homes, Income, Education, etc.• Do they have buying preferences (psychographics) ?

– Cars, Holidays, etc.• Are they a specific type of business ?

– Restaurants, retail, schools, etc.• Do they already own a certain product ?

– Computers, TV, Washing machines, etc.• Age

Pareto fundraising-2009

Thank You