Fundraising Ireland - 66 ways

66 ways to improve your direct marketing Damian O’Broin – Ask Direct Wednesday, March 25, 2009

! 0 0 1 r ways to improve e v66 O your direct marketing Damian O’Broin – Ask Direct Wednesday, March 25, 2009

More askdirect.ie delicious.com/damianob/fundirl slideshare.net/damianob damian@askdirect.ie Wednesday, March 25, 2009

1 Say ‘Thank You’ personally & promptly. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

What happens when I made some donations... Speed of thank you % of charities • Only 83% sent an email < 2 working days 28% thank you • Only 72% posted a thank 2-5 working days 22% you 6-10 working days 17% > 10 working days 5% *mystery shopping August 2008 No written thank 28% you Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

2 Tell stories. Real, vivid, memorable ones. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Mark’s mum doesn’t know he’s sleeping rough, and that’s not the worst of it... Wednesday, March 25, 2009

“...For Mark it all started when he went into care aged just 11. Of course there have been plenty of struggles along the way, and frankly, he doesn’t blame anyone but himself. He’s in his thirties now, and only became homeless three years ago after returning to Ireland from the UK, reluctantly leaving his two children and broken marriage behind him...” “...As if things weren’t bad enough, Mark’s life took an even worse turn shortly afterwards. He was knocked down by a vehicle that mounted the pavement and came to rest on his leg, badly injuring his ankle. While in hospital having his injuries treated, Mark’s leg wound became infected with the MRSA virus...” Wednesday, March 25, 2009

3 Write a longer letter. And long doesn’t mean 2 pages. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

David Ogilvy “All my experience says that for a great many products, long copy sells more than short. ... I could give you countless ... examples of long copy which has made the cash register ring, notably for Mercedes cars. Not only in the United States, but all over the world. I believe, without any research to support me, that advertisements with long copy convey the impression that you have something important to say, whether people read the copy or not. Direct response advertisers know that short copy doesn’t sell. In split run tests, long copy invariably outsells short copy.” Wednesday, March 25, 2009

David Ogilvy “All my experience says that for a great many products, long copy sells more than short. ... I could give you countless ... examples of long copy which has made the cash register ring, notably for Mercedes cars. Not only in the United States, but all over the world. I believe, without any research to support me, that advertisements with long copy convey the impression that you have something important to say, whether people read the copy or not. Direct response advertisers know that short copy doesn’t sell. In split run tests, long copy invariably outsells short copy.” “Only amateurs use short copy” Wednesday, March 25, 2009

4 Personalise. And, <firstname>, not just by using my name here & there. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

5 things to personalise ‣ Ask amount ‣ Theme or topic ‣ Giving history ‣ Survey data ‣ Personal information Wednesday, March 25, 2009

5 How much to ask for? The right amount. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

<lastgift> ‣ Typical ask amounts: ‣ <lastgift> ‣ <lastgift + 20%> ‣ <lastgift + €50> Wednesday, March 25, 2009

6 Don’t be scared. Ask for more money. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Ask for more! Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Ask for more! Ask Amount % Response Average Gift Last gift -50% 5.5% €72 Last gift +20% 8.4% €83 Wednesday, March 25, 2009

7 Ask more often. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

8 In fact, make sure you do actually ask for money. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Don’t forget to ask... ‣ ... for specific amounts ‣ ... for a specific purpose ‣ ... repeated consistently and clearly throughout the pack Wednesday, March 25, 2009

9 Don’t ask for money. Sometimes. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

10 Make it different. Please. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

11 Envelopes have two sides. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Women’s Aid outer envelope Irish Heart Foundation reply envelope Cork Simon outer envelope Wednesday, March 25, 2009

12 Always have a PS. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

90% of recipients read the PS first. The PS is the lead. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

13 Use a serif typeface for body copy. Not a sans serif. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Sans vs Serif Comprehension levels: Good Fair Poor Serif type 67% 19% 14% Sans serif type 12% 23% 65% from Colin Wheildon, Type & Layout Wednesday, March 25, 2009

14 Make the type bigger. We don’t all have perfect eyesight. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

15 And while you’re at it, make the forms bigger. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

16 ... And the boxes. Don’t forget the boxes. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Typography Checklist ‣ Serif face for body copy ‣ Avoid quirky faces and large amounts of italics ‣ 12pt type with at least 2pts of leading ‣ Lines between paragraphs ‣ Indent paragraphs ‣ Big tick boxes & plenty of room on forms Wednesday, March 25, 2009

17–26 Read these books. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Read these books ‣ Why I Write - George Orwell ‣ Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert B. Cialdini ‣ Made to Stick - Chip & Dan Heath ‣ The Elements of Style - Strunk & White ‣ The IDM Marketing Guide Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Read these books ‣ The Seven Basic Plots - Christopher Booker ‣ The Political Brain - Drew Westen ‣ Good to Great and the Social Sectors - Jim Collins ‣ Type & Layout - Jim Wheildon ‣ Who will run the frog hospital? - Lorrie Moore Wednesday, March 25, 2009

27 And read this one too... (*recommended by Conor Byrne) Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Read this book too ‣ Common Sense Direct Marketing - Drayton Bird Wednesday, March 25, 2009

28 It’s not about you. It’s about the donor. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

29 Invite your donors over for a nice cup of tea. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

30 Don’t forget your lapsed donors. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Lapsed vs Cold Average Cold Lapsed Campaign (A) 0.30% 0.67% Campaign (B) 0.80% 2.17% Campaign (C) 2.66% 6.95% Wednesday, March 25, 2009

31 Call and say hi. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

32 Be smart about your door drops. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Use census data & your own data to identify... ‣ ...zones where the prospects you want to target live (for instance, areas with the highest proportion of wealthy individuals). ‣ ... suitable zones where you have the lowest penetration. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

33 Add an envelope. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Enveloped door drops will double response. At least. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

34 Use a celebrity. Just make sure it’s the right one. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

35 Use an involvement device. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

36 If you’ve got the photos, flaunt ‘em. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

37 Ask your donors to recommend you. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

38 Ask your donors to ask their friends. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

39 Watch Mad Men. (BBC 4, Tuesday, 10pm). Wednesday, March 25, 2009

40 Say ‘thank you’ again. And again. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

41–46 Subscribe to these blogs Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Blogs ‣ The Agitator www.theagitator.net ‣ Fundraising Recession Watch recessionwatch.blogspot.com ‣ Conor Byrne conorbyrne.wordpress.com ‣ Donor Power www.donorpowerblog.com ‣ Sean Triner seantriner.blogspot.com ‣ Osocio www.osocio.org Wednesday, March 25, 2009

47 Email your donors. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

48 Pay for search. (Yes, people do click on the ads). Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Recruiting with Adwords ‣ Cost per click: < €0.50 ‣ 7% of click-throughs signed-up (entered email address) ‣ Cost per new email address of €6.70 Campaign example 2008 Wednesday, March 25, 2009

49 Make the most of video. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

50 Optimise your SEO. (Can I find you online?) Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Google Ireland only search: “third world charities” Wednesday, March 25, 2009

51 Use Twitter to engage your donors. (*hat tip to Howard Lake). Wednesday, March 25, 2009

“Try out the newer channels like Twitter. Some of your supporters will already be using it, so will love the opportunity to engage with you in this way. Twitter is a good way of building up an opt-in list, but don't use it for plain fundraising asks. It's more of a conversation - use it to listen and learn from your supportersquot; – Howard Lake, fundraising.co.uk Wednesday, March 25, 2009

52 Audience comes first. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

53 Use subscription & mail order lists before demographic ones. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

54 Apply as many relevant selectors to cold mailing lists as you can. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

55–64 Our top 10 copywriting tips. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Copywriting Top 10 ‣ Use ‘I’ and ‘You’. Especially ‘You’ ‣ Use simple English. ‣ Use short sentences and vary the lengths. ‣ Use short paragraphs and vary the lengths. ‣ Avoid jargon. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Copywriting Top 10 ‣ Use active rather than passive language. ‣ Make sure it sounds like someone talking. ‣ Ask for money, not support. ‣ Make it urgent. ‣ Be concise and to the point. But make it as long as it needs to be to convince the reader. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

65 Designate funds. Donors don’t want to pay for the paperclips. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

66 Test stuff. In fact, test lots of stuff. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Things to test ‣ Ask amounts ‣ Additions - leaflet, car sticker, postcard... ‣ Stamp vs Ceadúnas ‣ Cash vs direct debit ‣ New pack vs control ‣ Plain envelope vs photo or teaser Wednesday, March 25, 2009

67 Get set up for direct debit. Now. (And apply for DD Plus tomorrow). Wednesday, March 25, 2009

68 Offer your monthly givers a holiday. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

69 We’re in a recession. So SPEND MORE MONEY! Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Prioritise donor care & retention. ‣ Don’t forget about recruitment. ‣ Be realistic. Plan for lower returns. ‣ Invest in the areas that give you the best return. ‣ All our data over the last six months suggests direct marketing is holding its own or increasing. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

70 Really get to know your data. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Know your data ‣ How much ‣ What the give to people give ‣ Why they give ‣ How often they ‣ Where they live give ‣ How long they ‣ How recently stay they gave Wednesday, March 25, 2009

71 Segment by recency, frequency & value. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Recency Value < 12 months €1000+ Frequency 12-24 €250-€999 months 1 gift 24-36 €100-€249 months 2+ gifts 36-48 €50-99 months > 4 years < €50 Wednesday, March 25, 2009

72 Spend the most time and money on your best donors. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Pareto Principle 80% of your income will come from 20% of your donors. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

73–82 10 more tips. (*suggested by George in TW CAT) Wednesday, March 25, 2009

George’s tips ‣ Authenticity. ‣ Stamp on outer envelope. ‣ Ask volunteers for a ‣ Ask your trustees for their donation. address books. ‣ Hand-sign high value ‣ Tell your donors what their donors. donations have achieved. ‣ Hide the matching codes. ‣ Use some thank you letters to recruit direct debits. ‣ Variable tax copy - how ‣ Use reminder mailings to much the extra will achieve. boost income. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

83 Forget ROI. It’s net income that matters. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Which would you prefer? (and which would your donors prefer?) Net Cost Income ROI Income Campaign €25,000 €100,000 4:1 €75,000 (A) Campaign €50,000 €150,000 3:1 €100,000 (B) Wednesday, March 25, 2009

84–89 Use the six levers of influence. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The psychology of persuasion ‣ Reciprocation ...do your donors a favour. ‣ Commitment & consistency ...encourage donors to make a public commitment & remind them why they supported you in the first place. ‣ Social proof ...if everyone else is doing it then why aren’t we? Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The psychology of persuasion ‣ Liking ...is your organisation likable? ‣ Authority ...look and sound like you know what you’re talking about. ‣ Scarcity ...what’s limited is valuable Wednesday, March 25, 2009

90 Add stuff. But only if it makes sense. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

91 Visit SOFII regularly. (www.sofii.org) Wednesday, March 25, 2009

92 You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

93 Donate to loads of charities. Especially your own. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

94 Include an ask in your newsletter. (Or even just an reply envelope). Wednesday, March 25, 2009

95 Don’t forget to make the most of tax-efficient giving. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

96-101 George Orwell’s six commands for better writing. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Orwell’s Rules ‣ Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. ‣ Never use a long word when a short one will do. ‣ If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. ‣ Never use the passive where you can use the active. ‣ Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. ‣ Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Thank You askdirect.ie delicious.com/damianob/fundirl slideshare.net/damianob damian@askdirect.ie Wednesday, March 25, 2009

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Fundraising Ireland - 66 ways

by Damian O'Broin

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