Advert for Pareto Fundraising in Fundraising and Philanthropy Magazine

1. What is it with all these charity gifts in the post?
They can’t be getting loyal donors…
Why do they exist? The incredibly high response rates Once the initial tests are completed,
‘Premium’ mailings are delivering effectively subsidise the acquisition charities can gear up to rolling out.
extraordinary results - and valuable new costs of donors who can turn out to be Some already are - expect to see a lot
donors - for Australian charities right very valuable indeed. more premium mailings in 2012.
now. In some cases, they’re getting five These ‘normal’ donors should be just as One charity which conducted tests
times their typical response rate from a likely to consider regular giving, have in 2010 rolled out to recruit over
direct mail rollout. similar bequest potential and be just as 20,000 new donors in 2011 – at no
likely to give again as those recruited net cost! They actually made a profit
Why now?
with ‘ordinary’ cold mail packs. before even sending their new donors
These types of mailings have existed for
A bonus is that lower value donors a second appeal.
decades. Charities have reconsidered
respond to ‘normal’ appeals too, though
then recently because of cheaper Sounds too good to be true
not quite as well as normal donors.
manufacturing costs and declining Premium mailings don’t come without
results from other acquisition methods. their downsides, but these are mostly
about mechanics - not donor behaviour. .
But do the donors give again?
The main challenge is that to get
About half the donors acquired from
good prices, mail packs need to be
non-premium direct mail appeals never
manufactured off shore. This creates
give again. We thought that donors
much longer lead times and more room
acquired with premiums might be even
for delays outside your control. Storms,
less likely to give again. We were right –
strikes, shipping traffic jams and -
but the difference was minimal.
extraordinarily - even pirates could
Do you have to send more come between donor and delivery.
premiums to these donors?
Would it work for you?
There’s some evidence that premium
The only way to find out is to test.
recruited donors respond better to Assistance Dogs premium acquisition appeal. Don’t expect immediate success and do
appeals if they are also premiums. It achieved over 7% response rate from cold,
rented lists make sure you have enough budget to
But Andy, our top data guru, had a
roll the pack out if it works. The results
profound idea.
Why do premiums work so well? - and the value to your charity - could
Andy Tidy has a profound idea Premiums are hard to resist. Here in be substantial.
“We were worried about how these Australia their unusual look and feel
- Sean Triner, Pareto Fundraising
donors would respond to subsequent makes them a novelty in the mail box.
appeals. But I realised we were looking Even in the USA where they’ve been
at this wrong. What if a premium used for three decades, they still stand
For more information and a copy of
acquisition appeal acquired ‘normal’ out from ‘normal’ mail, though not as
our whitepaper on premium mailings
donors within the total response. much as they used to in the 80’s.
in Australia, email
Would they respond in the same way as
Test and Roll Out premiuminfo@paretofundraising.com
non-premium donors?”
While premium mailings are achieving
Premium cold appeals appear to fantastic results for many charities, they If you’d like to chat about your donor
acquire ‘normal’ donors as well should still be tested and developed. acquisition, call Sean on 0437 015 333
On investigation, Andy found that The right lists, creative, story and or Clarke on 07 3015 4021. You can also
premium cold mailings acquire two of course premium will make a email clarke.vincent@paretofundraising.com
types of donor: premium donors, and difference to results. Ask amounts and
normal donors. propositions are also crucial.
F&P AD JAN-5.indd 1 25/01/12 12:06 PM