Direct Mail Marketing Benefits, Strategies and Expectations Kimberly Knab President Beyond Direct Marketing
What are some of the benefits of direct mail?
What are some of the benefits of direct mail? • Introduces your affiliate to new people • Helps you communicate consistently with donors • Keeps your organization top of mind and your need urgent • Gives donors a convenient way of giving a financial gift • Renews relationships with lapsed donors • Builds a “pool” of major and planned giving prospects • Offers recognition (branding) and fundraising • Ability to target the right audience • Offers program stability and growth • Increases online and other giving • Makes your donor feel important • Easy to track and analyze!
Direct Mail 101 A STRATEGIC direct mail program consists of three parts: Major/Planned Pump new donors Pump new donors Donor into your program. into your program. 1.Acquisition A cost-effective way of reaching thousands of qualified prospective donors. 2. Donor Renewal Mail active donors regularly to stay top of mind, Active Donors keep your need urgent and give them the opportunity to give. 3. Acknowledgement Prospects Prospects and Cultivation Thank donors, inform them about how their gift is making a difference, invite them to events and personally cultivate them to minimize attrition. Donor Attrition
What does direct mail do? Gets into the hands of Grabs the reader’s Gets the reader to open the envelope. the right people. attention. Captivates the reader. Gets them to give a gift!
What does a strategic direct mail appeal look like? The anatomy of a direct mail appeal. Creative Design • Design to minimize the struggle to read at any age. • Use the right images. • Plain, corny and obvious is what works!
The anatomy of a direct mail appeal continued... Writing to Fundraise • Make it URGENT • Make it EASY TO READ • Make it REPETITIVE • Make it CONVERSATIONAL Personalize • Make it COMPELLING • Make it BALANCED • Make it LENGTH-APPROPRIATE • Make it CLEAR • Make it PERSONAL
What else is important when I send out a direct mail appeal? • The List(s) • Timing and Planning • Take Advantage of Discounts • Donor-Centered – Make Your Donor the Hero! • Stop Making it About Your Personal Preferences • Let Data Drive Decisions
Top Three Direct Mail Myths Too much mail It’s the thing donors most often complain about. But the fact is, more donor contact means more donor revenue, both in the short term and long term. And cutting back donor contact leads to weaker donor retention. Here’s the fact: You’re in a lot more danger from sending too little mail than too much. The “Rested” Donor Can you think of any healthy human relationship that improves with no communication? Donors who don’t hear from an organization for months after they’ve given are far less likely to ever give again. Here’s the fact: The more recently a donor gave, the more likely she is to give again. The Killer Complaints If you say anything at all to a large group of people, some will complain. Some donors will complain no matter what you do. Too much mail. Too little mail. Mailings are too expensive. Or too cheap. They complain about your sense of urgency, your grammar, your color choices. It feels bad when donors complain. I have seen nonprofits so fearful of donor complaints that they scrapped successful campaigns because of a handful (or even just ONE) complaint. Here’s the fact : Only program-wide results should guide how you act program wide. Source : Jeff Brooks , “The Fundraisers Guide to irresistible Communications: Real -World Field- Tested Strategies for Raising More Money”
What can we expect from sending out direct mail appeals? Donor renewal and acquisition appeals perform very differently, and thus, they must be tracked separately. DONOR RENEWAL ACQUISITION Response Rate: 3-6% Response Rate: 0.5-1.25% Average Gift: $70-100 Average Gift: $35-$45
How can we track direct mail? Append a simple tracking code to a remit slip. Tracking Code At a basic level, analyze the following: Average Gift = Total Revenue / # of Responses Response Rate = # of Responses / # Mailed Gross Revenue = Total Revenue Generated Net Revenue = Revenue – Costs Net Revenue Per Piece = Net Revenue / # Mailed
CAMPAIGN� ANALYSIS� ACTUAL� VS.� PROJECTED� REVENUE� COMPARISON January� 1,� 2012� -� December� 31,� 2012 Habitat� for� Humanity� Sample� Client DONOR� RENEWAL TOTAL REVENUE COST NET MAIL ACTUAL� NUMBER NUMBER % GROSS AVERAGE PER� PIECE PER REVENUE TOTAL PROJECTED DATE DONOR� RENEWAL� APPEAL� NAME DONOR� SEGMENT MAILED RESPONSES RETURN REVENUE GIFT MAILED PIECE PER� PIECE COST 1/23/12 Actual January� Partnership� Fund� Drive $1+,� 0-36� months 2,370 177 7.47% $12,918.02 $72.98 $5.45 0.60 $4.85 $1,422.00 1/23/12 Projected January� Partnership� Fund� Drive $1+,� 0-36� months 2,370 119 5.00% $8,887.50 $75.00 $3.75 0.60 $3.15 $1,422.00 3/12/12 Actual March� Help� Build� a� Better� Future� One� Square� Foot $1+,� 0-36� months 2,367 71 3.00% $4,392.04 $61.86 $1.86 0.60 $1.26 $1,420.20 3/12/12 Projected March� Help� Build� a� Better� Future� One� Square� Foot $1+,� 0-36� months 2,367 83 3.50% $5,384.93 $65.00 $2.28 0.60 $1.68 $1,420.20 6/11/12 Actual June� Everyone� Deserves� a� Decent� Home $1+,� 0-24� months 1,847 81 4.39% $5,319.00 $65.67 $2.88 0.60 $2.28 $1,108.20 6/11/12 Projected June� Everyone� Deserves� a� Decent� Home $1+,� 0-24� months 1,847 83 4.50% $4,571.33 $55.00 $2.48 0.60 $1.88 $1,108.20 8/6/12 Actual August� Back� to� School $1+,� 0-24� months 1,759 102 5.80% $7,719.05 $75.68 $4.39 0.60 $3.79 $1,055.40 8/6/12 Projected August� Back� to� School $1+,� 0-24� months 1,759 79 4.50% $5,145.08 $65.00 $2.93 0.60 $2.33 $1,055.40 9/10/12 Actual September� Matching� Gift $1+,� 0-48� months 2,769 126 4.55% $23,404.00 $185.75 $8.45 0.60 $7.85 $1,661.40 9/10/12 Projected September� Matching� Gift $1+,� 0-48� months 2,769 125 4.50% $11,214.45 $90.00 $4.05 0.60 $3.45 $1,661.40 10/15/12 Actual October� Fall� Handwritten $100+,� 0-36� &� $25-99,� 0-12 1,260 119 9.44% $13,844.00 $116.34 $10.99 2.42 $8.57 $3,049.20 10/15/12 Projected October� Fall� Handwritten $100+,� 0-36� &� $25-99,� 0-12 1,260 126 10.00% $13,230.00 $105.00 $10.50 2.42 $8.08 $3,049.20 11/5/12 Actual November� Holiday� Letter $1+,� 0-60� months 3,206 147 4.59% $21,819.05 $148.43 $6.81 0.60 $6.21 $1,923.60 11/5/12 Projected November� Holiday� Letter $1+,� 0-60� months 3,206 112 3.50% $9,537.85 $85.00 $2.98 0.60 $2.38 $1,923.60 DONOR� RENEWAL� ACTUAL� TOTALS 15,578 823 5.28% $89,415.16 $108.65 $5.74 0.75 $4.99 $11,640.00 DONOR� RENEWAL� PROJECTED� TOTALS 15,578 726 4.66% $57,971.13 $79.80 $3.72 0.75 $2.97 $11,640.00 DIFFERENCE� IN� DONOR� RENEWAL� TOTALS� (ACTUAL� -� PROJECTED) 0 97 0.62% $31,444.04 $28.84 $2.02 0.00 $2.02 $0.00 ACQUISITION TOTAL REVENUE COST NET ACTUAL� MAIL NUMBER NUMBER % GROSS AVERAGE PER� PIECE PER REVENUE TOTAL DATE PROJECTED ACQUISITION� APPEAL� NAME LIST� ORIGIN MAILED RESPONSES RETURN REVENUE GIFT MAILED PIECE PER� PIECE COST 9/10/12 Actual September� Matching� Gift Response� List 24,211 150 0.62% $7,068.50 $47.12 $0.29 0.65 ($0.36) $15,737.15 9/10/12 Projected September� Matching� Gift Response� List 24,211 182 0.75% $6,355.39 $35.00 $0.26 0.65 ($0.39) $15,737.15 11/5/12 Actual November� Holiday� Letter Response� List 25,000 186 0.74% $8,829.47 $47.47 $0.35 0.65 ($0.30) $16,250.00 11/5/12 Projected November� Holiday� Letter Response� List 25,000 225 0.90% $8,437.50 $37.50 $0.34 0.65 ($0.31) $16,250.00 ACQUISITION� ACTUAL� TOTALS 49,211 336 0.68% $15,897.97 $47.32 $0.32 0.65 ($0.33) $31,987.15 ACQUISITION� PROJECTED� TOTALS 49,211 407 0.83% $14,792.89 $36.38 $0.30 0.65 ($0.35) $31,987.15 DIFFERENCE� IN� ACQUISITION� TOTALS� (ACTUAL� -� PROJECTED) 0 -71 -0.14% $1,105.08 $10.93 $0.02 0.00 $0.02 $0.00 OVERALL� ACTUAL� GROSS� REVENUE� $105,313.13 OVERALL� PROJECTED� GROSS� REVENUE� $72,764.01 DIFFERENCE� IN� OVERALL� GROSS� REVENUE $32,549.12 LESS� OVERALL� COST� $45,377.15 OVERALL� ACTUAL� NET� REVENUE $59,935.98 OVERALL� PROJECTED� NET� REVENUE $27,386.86 DIFFERENCE� IN� OVERALL� NET� REVENUE $32,549.12
What are additional strategies to increase results? • Integrate your online and offline fundraising efforts. • Make your website donor-friendly. • Integrate additional marketing channels. • More cultivation!
Kimberly Knab President, Beyond Direct Marketing 310-498-2369 Kimberly@BeyondDirectMarketing.com www.BeyondDirectMarketing.com
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