New Year's Resolution: Improving your annual appeal
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Transcript of New Year's Resolution: Improving your annual appeal
a webinar from Adcieo and Third Sector Labs
© 2014 Third Sector Labs, Inc.
1. Improving your annual appeal.
2.
800.383.3854 | www.thirdsectorlabs.com
The holidays just wrapped (pun intended) and everyone is recovering
Your 2013 year-end appeal response should finish soon
We’d like to talk about how to improve the appeal … now… before you become swamped by the next task or event
Welcome
1. Introductions2. Talk about the fundraising appeal process a bit3. Review what the experts are telling us about
better appeals4. Separate content from data5. Look at an example6. Recommendations7. Conclusions
Agenda
Adcieo is a leader in fundraising consulting, social media and the use of fundraising technology
Debbie Snyder is the VP of Sales and Marketing Debbie’s leadership experience includes EDS,
KindMark, Kintera and Merkle, Inc.
Website: www.Adcieo.comEmail: [email protected] LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/debbie-snyder/0/448/89b
Who are we? Adcieo
Third Sector Labs is a data services company challenging nonprofits to re-think their data practices
Gary Carr is the Founder and President Gary’s leadership experience includes Carr
Systems, Kintera, KindMark and United Way
Website: www.ThirdSectorLabs.com Email: [email protected]: www.linkedin.com/in/gpfcarrOur data tip of the week: Facebook & Twitter
Who are we? Third Sector Labs
Shall we get started?
It’s January …Planning was doneWebsite was updatedDirect mail was sentEmails were sentSocial messaging updated
And now …Responses coming inResults being tallied
How was your year-end appeal?
What’s on everyone’s mind?
Executive Director: “What’s
the number?”
Chairman:
“Did we hit our goal?”
Director of Development:“Can I keep
my job?”
Anonymous staffer:
“It feels like feast or famine.”
Is anybody talking about the most common mistakes made
with an annual fundraising appeal?
And is it too late?
No … and, no!
The anatomy of the annual appeal
Let’s break it down (briefly)
Year-end appeal
Data
StyleMateria
ls
#1: Components
Content
Planning&
budget
Before
• Planning• Messaging• Materials• Website• Direct mail• Email• Social media
During
• Donations received
• Results tallied• Inquiries
answered
After
• Enter data• Update records• Send out
responses
#2: Schedule of activities
What are the most common mistakes?
What do the experts say?
Start with the leading search engines …
Use a variety of search terms and questions …
To find the most consumed advice …
Let’s find out
Top 30 articles 90%+ in the past two years
156 total recommendations
Which we organized as follows: Content only Content and data Data only
And our survey found …
Content only Weak call to action (CTA) Failure to tell stories Failure to demonstrate impact Failure to personalize Small fonts Too much content … too little Too many communications … too few Sloppy mistakes, misspellings Failure to thank donors
Examples of what we found
Content only = messaging, style, materials, communication frequency, etc.
Content and data Treating all donors the same The ask is too small Failure to track responses to
the appeal, analyze the results Failure to research prospective
donors / audiences in order to determine the right message
Examples of what we found
Content + data =Content decisions depend upon data analysis
Data only Failure to reach out to lapsed donors Failure to reach out to new donors Failure to track fundraising stats Failure to clean and update your donor list
Examples of what we found
Data only = Action is strictly data related
We graphed the problem
(because we are data-heads)
Examples of the adviceB
efo
re …
……
….
Aft
er
Content …………. Data
Better plan
Envelope designFonts
Send reminders Collect the pledge
Research prospects Mailing list
Stronger CTADon’t treat all donors the sameDon’t ignore lapsed
donors
Track donor stats
Thank donors
Tell stories
Track responses vs messages
Larger asksPersonalize
Simple writing styleConvey urgency, impact
Befo
re …
……
….
Aft
er
Content ………..…. Data
81%6%
4%
4%
2%
1%
2%
The mistake about the most common mistakes
What does the survey data tell us?
The survey data says …
81% focus on content related activities before the appeal
12% vaguely discuss content-related data issues, but offer little direction
Only 7% discuss what to do after the appeal … and most are thank you reminders
Only 3% address data
Recommendations for “Content + Data” …Recommendations for “Data” …
All require interpretation to understand that the issue is data.
For example …
Problem:Nobody is talking “data”
Nobody explains things like … How you do something such as track an appeal
response against the message, or How do you NOT treat all donors the same, or How do you analyze lapsed givers
This work starts with data.
Bigger Problem:Nobody is explaining “data”
In other words …
With so much of your effort going into pre-appeal, content-related activities …
This is why every fundraising appeal feels like “feast or famine”.
“Feast or famine”
What do we do?
Where do we start?
Good advice
“The temptation to form premature theories is upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession.” – -- Sherlock Holmes
Is he talking about solving crimes or fundraising?
Rule #1: If the data is poor, the content does not matter
Rule #2: What you do AFTER the appeal matters as much
as what you did BEFORE
Start here: two simple rules
So, how can you improve the appeal?
Let’s look at an example
‐ Older Adults
‐ Professionals
‐ Retirees
‐ Faith Based
‐ Baltimore Natives
‐ Volunteers
Individuals
Corporations
‐ Member Organizations
‐ Baltimore Based‐ Shared Vision‐ Personal Connection
GEDCO Donor
• Direct Mail and Newsletters• Online Engagement• Events• Phone-A-Thon• Board Fundraising• Individual Calls
How does GEDCO reach it’s donors?
From data to impact
EOY 2012 EOY 2011 $0
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$80,000
$100,000
$120,000
$140,000
$160,000
Online Dona-tions Appeal ResponsesThanksGiving Tribute
Results: Comparison of EOY Giving
New donors Higher gifts from current donorsUse of communications
Supported and framed final appeal Personal look at residents and
clients
Why the Increase?
Bringing it all home
Act now! The “after” to one appeal is the “before” to the next one.
Your appeal response is producing thousands – tens of thousands? – more? – of new data points … are you prepared?
First and foremost
Plan and commit to the plan
Separate the management of donor data from the activities needing that data.
Data management requires you to be
PROACTIVEnot REACTIVE
Our recommendations
1. Clean your data … REGULARLY2. Check all data sources into your database3. Ask for the data that you want from your donors
This is the easiest and cheapest way to enrich your data
4. Segment your donors and messaging Do you know how your donors want to communicate? Are you delivering the right messages to the right
people?
5. Plan to turn higher quality data into improved fundraising results
Our recommendations
This approach applies to ALL of your fundraising activities …
Not just your annual appeal …
But you probably figured that out!
Hint
... Start with a data assessment, schedule data hygiene or develop a data quality plan
… Strategic planning and execution, to turn your improved data into better fundraising results
How we can help
Every organization must
(a) plan
and
(b) budget
for good data management
Conclusion
Befo
re …
……
….
Aft
er
Content ………..…. Data
81%6%
4%
4%
2%
2%
Go from “feast or famine” fundraising
1%
Befo
re …
……
….
Aft
er
Content ………..…. Data
81%6%
4%
4%
2%
? % =$$
2%
To sustainment
Executive Director: “We are
tracking to the plan.”
Chairman:
“We hit our
goal!”
Director of Development:
“I can keep my job!”
Anonymous staffer:
“Already working on
the next appeal.”
Questions ???
You can read more about this topic on our blog at:
Thirdsectorlabs.com
Please stay tuned for upcoming webinars in February:
1. “You can’t take it with you: why you don’t want to migrate all of that old data into a new CRM”
2. “If your data isn’t getting better, it’s getting worse: why?”
Thank you for attending!