This session will provide unique insights and information surrounding both the organizations donor file, and the mailing list’s that make up new donor acquisition efforts. The discussion will include topics such as: o The Donor File - Most Important Asset for an Organization o Types of Lists - Markets and Targeting o Sources of Information & Types of List Transactions o Structure of Acquisition Plan & Strategy o Education & Fundraising o Attrition & Acquisition of Donors

1. Lists, Acquisition Planning & Strategy
Presented By:
Donna Belardi
President
June 10, 2015

2. Page 2June 10, 2015
OVERVIEW
• Direct Mail Current Trends
• Purpose of Direct Mail
• Types of Lists
• Sources of Lists
• List Ordering Process
• Role of the List Broker and List Manager
• Planning an Acquisition Mailing

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Future of Direct Mail
Digital Taking Shares of New & Old Money
While Direct Outperformed Expectations…
2014 U.S. ‘Direct & Digital’ Spending: $146.1 BB
In the US –
Spent on
Direct Mail
Whereas -
Spent on Digital
Digital = Display, Email, other Mobile, Social Technology & Services, Lead Gen & Affiliate Services and Search.
Direct = Insert Media, Teleservices and Direct Mail.
Direct Mail kept its share in acquisition:
• It can be can be integrated with digital channels (mobile, behavior
triggers)
• It is targetable, predictable & measurable.
• Direct Mail has scale, endurance, impact & importance, acquisition
and sensory benefit
• Almost every household in the civilized world can be reached by
direct mail.
Source Advertising Spend: Winterberry Group analysis of multiple
sources 2015.

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Trends - Direct Marketing – Economy & Nonprofits
• Two main factors influencing charitable giving are the economy & consumer confidence.
• Research shows that during harder times, charitable giving falls as a percentage of the GDP. The
converse is true; during periods of strong economic growth – revenue growth increases.
• Value of Nonprofits in 2012 (Urban Institute Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy)
• The tax-exempt sector represented 5.4% of our GDP.
• 501(C)(3) Public Charities accounted for ¾ of its revenue ($1.65 trillion) & expenses ($1.56
trillion) more than 3/5 of nonprofit assets ($2.99 trillion).
• The number of nonprofits registered with the IRS increased from 1.32 million to 1.44 million, a
jump of 8.6 percent.
• Nonprofits employ approximately 11MM paid workers or about 10% of the workforce (third
largest behind retail & manufacturing).
More Groups Chasing a Finite Pool of Money

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Reporting/Trends - Direct Marketing – Overall Charitable Giving
• Two Major Benchmarking & Forecasting Companies are The Giving USA Foundation & Atlas for
Giving along with our CoOp partners such as Blackbaud (Target Analytics) & Epsilon.
The Giving USA Foundation Data
• Charitable giving in 2014 (Giving USA) is expected to be in the neighborhood of $350 billion, it
was $335 billion in 2013 which is a 3% increase over 2012. Approximately 72% came from
individuals.
• Individuals Dominate Giving
• Donations by individuals—by far the most important source of funding for nonprofits—
rose significantly in 2013. Researchers say wealthy individuals were the main source of
the increase.
Source: Giving USA

6. Page 6June 10, 2015
Reporting/Trends - Direct Marketing – Overall Charitable Giving
Atlas for Giving Data
• According to Atlas for Giving, $456.7 billion was given to charity in 2014 an increase of 9.3% over
2013. They had estimated a 13% increase in giving in 2013 from 2012.
• Robert Mitchell, chief executive of Atlas of Giving, an organization that forecasts giving rates,
said stock-market gains boosted gifts to donor-advised funds and colleges more than to big
national charities that depend on the support of large numbers of small donors.
•
• Differences between Giving USA & Atlas for Giving:
• Donor Advised Funds are part of Atlas for Giving’s calculations and represent 6.4% of
all giving. (Donor-advised fund is a charitable giving vehicle administered by a public charity
created to manage charitable donations on behalf of organizations, families, or individuals.)
• Giving USA relies on IRS 990 information & does not use survey data whereas Atlas
for Giving does use surveys. Churches are not required to file tax data so surveys
are what are used to gauge church giving. 1/3 of charitable giving is from church
donations.
• Atlas for Giving claims they are more timely & relevant since they don’t rely solely on
tax data that is a 1½ to 2 years old but econometric models.

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Trends - Direct Marketing
• Issues that impact current benchmark/projection reports:
• High profile episodic events drive giving
• Stock Market
• Unemployment & compensation (Recently employed or just re-employed don’t give – takes two years
to reach previous levels of giving of person who was previously unemployed.)
• Interest Rates
• Global Economy, Competition Internationally (i.e. Asia), Geo-political Issues
• Oil/Gas prices
• Technology has increased – i.e. crowd-funding, etc.
• Three steps to YOUR economic recovery: 1) Focus on acquisition 2) Build donor retention 3) Amp
up creative (Future Fundraising Now)
• “Some of the biggest advances in direct mail marketing have come on the list side…allows
marketers the ability to target better than ever before with offerings such as modeling, analytics
and appending. “(Inside Direct Mail)
Predictions for 2015…
…trickle-down effect to people who give small donations?
2014 – donations from wealthy increased…Direct Mail a Pipeline

8. Page 8June 10, 2015
Purpose
The Purpose of Direct Mail is Twofold…
• Direct Mail Revenue is responsible for
building many of our country’s most
important Non-profit organizations
• For most small organizations, the most
common source of funds is asking large
amounts of people for small donations
through Direct Mail

9. Page 9June 10, 2015
 Educates prospects on mission of nonprofit
 Creates awareness of issue
 Increases “brand” recognition
 New members/donors can become monthly
givers and/or major donors
 Supports other channels of fundraising
 New Volunteers/Activists
 Donate Goods
 Attend an Event
 Participate in a walk or run
 Volunteer to organize an Event
 Promote a charity on line
 Email or send a letter to an elected
 Join a social network
Purpose
Creates More and More…
More
Advocacy
More
Fundraising
More
Fundraising
More
Advocacy

10. Page 10June 10, 2015
5 Factors to Achieve Success
• Lists
• Offer
• Copy
• Format / Packages
• Premiums / Benefits
 If the mail piece does not reach the right people, Direct Marketing cannot do its job & will
not be successful in meeting its objectives.
 Maximizing Direct Mail Success depends 1st on lists – 2nd on offers – 3rd on copy/graphics.

11. Page 11June 10, 2015
Types of Lists
Examples
Phone Directories, Credits Records,
Deed Registries
Government Data, Warranty
Cards, etc.
Commercial
Response Compiled
Consumer
Commercial Fundraising
 Consumer lists change at a rate of about 2% per month as people are born, relocate, die or marry.
NCOA adjusts for these factors.

12. Page 12June 10, 2015
 Recency
 Dollar
 Gender
 Region
 Source
 Modeling
 Member/Donor files
 Subscriber files
 Buyers
 Co-Op Databases
 Compiled
 Survey
 Email
 Direct
“…better target prospect – lift response”
Factors to Consider:
1. When was file last updated
2. Selects Available
3. Pricing
4. Usage
Types of Lists Marketing and Targeting

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 Broker/List Manager
 NextMark/SRDS*/MIN
 Internet
 Direct Connection
 Exchange
 Rental
 One-Time Use
* SRDS = Standard Rate & Data Service. Database of media rates & related
information – includes approx. 100,000 U.S. & Int’l media properties.
Approx. 25,000 Response Lists & 50,000 Compiled Files
Sources of Lists; Types of List Transactions

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Mailer
List
Owner
Clearance and Order Process

15. Page 15June 10, 2015
Mail responsive names that have both the to give to your cause.
Why use a Broker/Manager – Macro Perspective?
Abreast of current &
historical trends in the
overall direct mail market.
Expertise within your
sector such as charitable,
environmental political,
cultural/arts, etc.
Identifies the lists that
are successful for a
particular cause or
membership offer.
Knows the characteristics
and success of lists outside
of the core market.
Has the information on
how a list was built & how
often it is updated.

16. Page 16June 10, 2015
Why use a Broker/Manager – Micro Perspective?
Works with the client to
develop an acquisition plan
including test
recommendations.
Identifies profitable segments
on marginal/unlikely lists.
Maximizes exchange opportunities &
negotiates the best prices for you with
the list owner.
Clears and orders continuation, retest, and test lists
within a designated timeline.
Coordinates with list manager for the timely delivery
of names to the service bureau.
Invoices the campaign.
Keeps track of the exchange
balance between
organizations.
Evaluates response rates,
average gift and other results.

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18. Page 18June 10, 2015
 Organization’s budget & goals determine the quantity to be mailed
 Prospecting is an .
 Factors that determine the timing & number of mailings per year:
 Expenses/Budget
 # of new Members/Donors to be added
 Timing of Cash Flow from New Donors
 Seasonality
 Objective -
 Most significant quality variable is the average gift amount
 Average gift is also a key indicator of a donor’s upgrade potential &
measurement of a stronger commitment
Structure of Acquisition Plan and Strategy
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
– Yogi Berra

19. Page 19June 10, 2015
 Continuations, Retests, & Tests
 Know your primary, secondary & tertiary markets
 Maximize the use of your core files
 Better target your marginal lists
 10% to 20% of plan should be devoted to testing
 List/Package optimization – Traditional/Mission - Hybrid - Premium based packages
 The List Mix:
 Member/Donor lists are generally most responsive
 Hotline selects – great tool to get unique names & increase response rates
 Commercial files - Catalog Lists – low response rate; high average gift
 Cooperative Databases – modeled donor names
 Test lists including those of Nonprofits whose mission is similar
Structure of Acquisition Plan and Strategy
Must Lay a
Solid
Foundation
for your plan

20. Page 20June 10, 2015
Structure of Acquisition Plan and Strategy
 Understand & reach the benchmark metric(s) established in your budget…
• Response Rate:
= (# of Donors/Qty Mailed) * 100
= Success in matching target audience,
package & program.
• Average Gift:
= Gross Income/# of Donors
= Higher gift - better upgrade potential
• Gross Income or Total Revenue:
= # of Donors * Average Gift
= Shows productivity of mailing
• Income/M:
= (Gross Income/Qty Mailed) * 1000
= Key in list evaluation
• Cost/M:
= (Total Cost/Qty Mailed) * 1000
= Indicates cost per thousand
• Net/M:
= Revenue - Cost = Net Income.
Formula=(Net/Income/Qty Mailed)*1000
= Shows net productivity
• Cost Per Dollar Raised (CP$R):
= Total Cost/Total Revenue
The lower the better.
• Net/Donor:
= Net Income/# of Donors
= Important prospecting metric because it
takes into account donors, revenue & cost.
• LTV = Long Term Value (Life Time)
Key retention metric for long
term planning.

21. Page 21June 10, 2015
Response Rate and Average Gift act like a weighted scale.
Structure of Acquisition Plan and Strategy – Key Metrics
 Use historical results and current trends to develop projections for each
list…Rigorous, Quantifiable Metrics.
 List selection is data driven.
 Not only qualify but must also quantify the viability
of our acquisition plan and strategy.
 Defend projections with objective data.
$$$CAUSE &
EFFECT

22. Page 22June 10, 2015
 Specifics of Mail Plan Development
 Built on response information from previous mailings.
 Quantities per list/select are input into the mail plan according to performance and
most recent usage.
 Universe counts - Is the universe large enough to omit prior usage?
 Strategize placement of list…how many mailings a year? Take all available and wait
several mailings to mail again or take an nth amount so some quantity of list will be
in each mailing.
 Improve results by refining select segmentations
 12 months instead of 24 months; 6 month instead of 12
 Dollar amount of gift ($5+ versus $10+)
 Male versus Female
 Geo/SCF/Zip
 Usage
Structure of Acquisition Plan and Strategy

23. Page 23June 10, 2015
When the right audience is targeted, a critical component of
is met.
 Returned, unwanted and undelivered mail produces vast amounts
of waste paper.
 Plan and implement the every step of the way:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
The ability to deliver your message to a precise audience - produces cost effectiveness
& environmental stewardship.
Structure of Acquisition Plan and Strategy

24. Page 24June 10, 2015
 Prospecting is an .
 Most clients keep 25-35% of new donors in the 1st year; Multi-year
donors usually retain between 65-75%.
 Over the course of time if prospecting is not done in some manner–
natural attrition will continue to exponentially reduce the size of your
donor base.
Attrition and Acquisition of Donors

25. Page 25June 10, 2015
“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you
just sit there.” – Will Rogers
Speaker Contact Information:
Donna Belardi
donnab@belardiostroy.com
212-381-1701
www.belardiostroyfundraising.com
Final Words