This document discusses several myths about fundraising and donor engagement. It debunks the myths that sending thank you letters is a waste of time, that mailing donors too often will drive them away, and that people need concrete facts and figures to persuade them to donate. It presents evidence that timely thank you's are important to donor commitment, frequent mailings do not negatively impact donors, and emotional stories about individuals can be more effective at inspiring donations than statistics.

2. MYTHBUSTERS!
Damian O’Broin
Ask Direct
#ifc2014
@damianobroin

4. MYTH #1
Every presentation at
#IFC2014 has to include
the words “ice”, “bucket”
and “challenge”

5. MYTH #2
You can’t replicate the
ice-bucket challenge
so you shouldn’t
bother trying.

6. #icebucketchallenge

7. #icebucketchallenge

9. 47% of Rovio’s revenue come from licensing

12. 2013 Profit: $568 million

16. How to replicate the ice bucket challenge
Guaranteed!
1. Invest very heavily in idea development - properly resource innovation teams and
buy in outside expertise if necessary
2. Develop a ruthless culture of fail-fast and be prepared to fail repeatedly.
3. Practice Zen-like levels of patience. This could take 10 years.
4. (Buy a couple of lottery tickets, just in case.)
5. Implement robust online and mobile tools to be ready for when it takes off.
6. Develop top-of-the class social media strategies and tactics so that you can amplify
the message when it goes viral.
7. Cross your fingers.
8. Sit back and wait for the money to roll in.

17. MYTH #2
You can’t replicate the
ice-bucket challenge
so you shouldn’t
bother trying.

18. MYTH #2
BUSTED
You can’t replicate the
ice-bucket challenge
so you shouldn’t
bother trying.
(Well, kind of...)

19. MYTH #3
Sending thank you
letters to all your donors
for every donation is a
waste of time

20. “It appears no one has any empirical evidence
that thanking donors, promptly or otherwise,
makes the slightest difference...”

21. “On average, we get more than one
fifth of our net income from direct
mail from our thank you letters...”
- Angel Aloma, Food for the Poor
(No ask, but envelope & reply device)

22. Test Group A Test Group B
Q = 25,000 Q = 25,000
Control
Additional thank you piece
at start of year
(no ask, envelope or reply device)
– + $450,000 in gifts

23. “The closest I've come to testing that was when a client of mine accidentally turned
off their acknowledgement program.
It stayed off for about three months — donors not getting any thanks for their gifts —
because nobody noticed.
We saw retention drop during that time, and we had no idea why, until we learned
about the missing acknowledgements.
Of course, it wasn't a test with a control group, so we couldn't say for sure that not
sending the receipts is what caused the drop in renewal.”
- Jeff Brooks, TrueSense Marketing

24. The 7 Key Drivers of Donor Commitment
1. Donor perceives your organisation to be effective in trying to achieve its mission.
2. Donor knows what to expect from your organisation with each interaction.
3. Donor receives timely thank yous.
4. Donor receives opportunities to make his or her views known.
5. Donor is given the feeling that he or she is part of an important cause.
6. Donor feels his or her involvement is appreciated
7. Donor receives information showing who is being helped

25. The 7 Key Drivers of Donor Commitment
1. Donor perceives your organisation to be effective in trying to achieve its mission.
2. Donor knows what to expect from your organisation with each interaction.
3. Donor receives timely thank yous.
4. Donor receives opportunities to make his or her views known.
5. Donor is given the feeling that he or she is part of an important cause.
6. Donor feels his or her involvement is appreciated
7. Donor receives information showing who is being helped

26. The 7 Key Drivers of Donor Commitment
1. Donor perceives your organisation to be effective in trying to achieve its mission.
2. Donor knows what to expect from your organisation with each interaction.
3. Donor receives timely thank yous.
4. Donor receives opportunities to make his or her views known.
5. Donor is given the feeling that he or she is part of an important cause.
6. Donor feels his or her involvement is appreciated
7. Donor receives information showing who is being helped

27. ASK
THANK
REPORT

31. Who’s saying thank you?

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“When people ask me what
difference a donation can make, I
reply that donations to Starship
transform lives. “Parents have told
me with tears in their eyes what it
means to know their child is
receiving the best possible care at
Starship.
And behind every one of those
children there are compassionate
people like you dedicates to
helping. Thank you.
Your donation will help Starship
support children and their families
at their moment of greatest need. It
is at these moments, when a child’s
life can hang in the balance, that
your donation becomes truly
transformational.”

42. THE BIG QUESTION:
Why don’t we test
thank-yous more?

43. MYTH #3
Sending thank you
letters to all your donors
for every donation is a
waste of time

44. MYTH #3
BUSTED
Sending thank you
letters to all your donors
for every donation is a
waste of time

45. MYTH #4
If you mail your donors
too often you’ll drive
them away

48. “There is absolutely no evidence that frequency of
solicitation negatively impacts retention and
lifetime value. Period.”

49. This is at least 24
mailings per year
Lots of charities
are here

50. Typical response rates

55. Mailing arrives from your
favourite charity

56. Mailing arrives from your
favourite charity
Take out your cheque book
and make a donation

57. Mailing arrives from your
favourite charity
Take out your cheque book
and make a donation
Receive warm glow from
beautifully penned thank
you letter and satisfaction
that charity has explained
exactly how they’ve spent
your money

58. Mailing arrives from your
favourite charity
Take out your cheque book
and make a donation
Receive warm glow from
beautifully penned thank
you letter and satisfaction
that charity has explained
exactly how they’ve spent
your money
Mailing arrives
from a
DIFFERENT
charity

59. Mailing arrives from your
favourite charity
Take out your cheque book
and make a donation
Receive warm glow from
beautifully penned thank
you letter and satisfaction
that charity has explained
exactly how they’ve spent
your money
Mailing arrives
from a
DIFFERENT
charity
Write cheque to
YOUR
COMPETITOR

60. MYTH #4
If you mail your donors
too often you’ll drive
them away

61. MYTH #4
BUSTED
If you mail your donors
too often you’ll drive
them away

62. MYTH #5
You need to give
people concrete facts
and figures to persuade
them to give

63. The Rokia
Experiment

64. Food shortages in Malawi are affecting more than 3 million children.
In Zambia, severe rainfall deficits have resulted in a 42% drop in the
maize production from 2000. As a result, an estimated 3 million
Zambians face hunger.
4 million Angolans – one third of the population – have been forced to
flee their homes.
More than 11 million people in Ethiopia need immediate food assistance.

65. Food shortages in Malawi are affecting more than 3 million children.
In Zambia, severe rainfall deficits have resulted in a 42% drop in the
maize production from 2000. As a result, an estimated 3 million
Zambians face hunger.
4 million Angolans – one third of the population – have been forced to
flee their homes.
More than 11 million people in Ethiopia need immediate food assistance.
23% of earnings donated

66. Her life would be changed for the better as a result of your financial gift.
With your support, and the support of other caring sponsors, Save the
Children will work with Rokia’s family and other members of the
community to help feed her, provide her with education, as well as
basic medical care and hygiene education.

67. Her life would be changed for the better as a result of your financial gift.
With your support, and the support of other caring sponsors, Save the
Children will work with Rokia’s family and other members of the
community to help feed her, provide her with education, as well as
basic medical care and hygiene education.
48% of earnings donated

68. 50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Emotional
Rational
Combination
Small,
Loewenstein
&
Slovic
Proportion of Earnings Donated

69. The Mother Teresa Principle

70. The Mother Teresa Principle
If I look at the mass,
I will never act.
If I look at the one, I will.

71. The Joe Stalin Principle

72. The Joe Stalin Principle
One man’s death is a tragedy,
but a million deaths is a statistic.

73. MYTH #5
You need to give
people concrete facts
and figures to persuade
them to give

74. MYTH #5
BUSTED
You need to give
people concrete facts
and figures to persuade
them to give

75. MYTH #6
You need to invest in
brand awareness to
drive up fundraising
income

78. Fundraising Spend €500,000 €300,000
Awareness Spend – €200,000
Cost per Response €125 €100
# Responses 4,000 3,000

79. Fundraising Spend €500,000 €300,000
Awareness Spend – €200,000
Cost per Response €125 €100
# Responses 4,000 3,000

80. Fundraising Spend €500,000 €300,000
Awareness Spend – €200,000
Cost per Response €125 €100
# Responses 4,000 3,000

81. Fundraising Spend €500,000 €300,000
Awareness Spend – €200,000
Cost per Response €125 €100
# Responses 4,000 3,000
Awareness campaign would need to improve
performance by 40% to justify spend

82. Jeff Brooks isn’t as optimistic as me...
“...for the awareness campaign to be worthwhile it
would have to improve fundraising by 67%...”

83. You can’t compete with these people

84. “The consumer approaches impulse items, like
Coca Cola, as a PULL .i.e., they go and buy a
soft drink, and Coke is (or is not) their choice of
beverage. They get a new car and choose
between a Ford and a Toyota.
These brands spend millions on ‘Top of Mind’
marketing, which makes sense.
However, charity fundraising is different.
Statistically speaking, people don’t give without
being asked. The only exception is a media
disaster story such as an earthquake, or,
bizarrely, Princess Diana dying.
Outside of emergencies, fundraising is a pure
PUSH exercise. Being top of mind definitely
makes asking easier, but a charity that asks
effectively and is not top of mind, beats the
charity that is top of mind, but doesn’t ask
effectively.”
- Sean Triner (101Fundraising.org)

86. Cash
Acquisi+on
Results
December
2010
–
May
2012
When Number
Mailed Response
Rate Average
GiC Number
of
new
donors
December
2010 77,000 1.8% $58 1,474
April
2011 85,000 1.9% $55 1,675
September
2011 43,500 5.8% $46 2,608
March
2012 150,000 2.7% $46 4,328
May
2012 156,000 3.9% $48 6,298
TOTAL 511,500 3.2% $51 16,383

88. MYTH #6
BUSTED
You need to invest in
brand awareness to
drive up fundraising
income

89. MYTH #7
Take major donors out
of your direct mail
programme

90. The Black Hole of
Almost Major Donors

93. 1% of the response - just 21 people - generated over
35% of the total income from the appeal.

97. MYTH #7
Take major donors out
of your direct mail
programme

98. MYTH #7
BUSTED
Take major donors out
of your direct mail
programme

99. MYTH #8
There’s no point
investing in direct mail
unless you’re a large
charity with a big
database of donors

102. $3,900 million
€40 million
€12 million

104. 4.4million 4.9million 5.4million
Ireland
Barcelona

105. There are advantages to being small...

106. Use the
Pareto principle
Personalise
Make it feel
homemade

107. Ask for REALLY big gifts

108. €600,000
€400,000
€200,000
€0
€800,000
2007
2008
Annual Direct Marketing Income
2009
2010
2011
2012

109. MYTH #8
BUSTED
There’s no point
investing in direct mail
unless you’re a large
charity with a big
database of donors

110. MYTH #9
Women are from Venus
and Men are from Mars

111. Delusions Of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences
– Cordelia Fine (2010)

112. Control No priming men outperformed women
Male Primed
“men perform better than women in this test,
probably for genetic reasons”
men outperformed women
Female Primed
“women perform better than women in this test,
probably for genetic reasons”
no gender difference
Delusions Of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences
– Cordelia Fine (2010)

113. Control No priming men outperformed women
Male Primed
“men perform better than women in this test,
probably for genetic reasons”
men outperformed women
Female Primed
“women perform better than women in this test,
probably for genetic reasons”
no gender difference
Delusions Of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences
– Cordelia Fine (2010)

114. Control No priming men outperformed women
Male Primed
“men perform better than women in this test,
probably for genetic reasons”
men outperformed women
Female Primed
“women perform better than women in this test,
probably for genetic reasons”
no gender difference
Delusions Of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences
– Cordelia Fine (2010)

115. Women students in business trying to
organize a humanitarian action in Togo.
We are relying on your support
DONATING = HELPING

116. Women students in business trying to
organize a humanitarian action in Togo.
We are relying on your support
DONATING = LOVING

117. CONTROL €0.54
DONATING €0.62
LOVING €1.04

118. “One possible explanation is... the loving concept acts as a
prime that leads to activation of further concepts associated
with compassion, support, or solidarity that, in turn, lead
participants to offer donations more favorably”
The effect of the word “love”on compliance to a request
for humanitarian aid: An evaluation in a field setting
– Dr. Nicolas Guéguen & Lubomir Lamy (2011)

119. Asking for time vs asking for money
Control Time-ask Prime Money-ask Prime
–
“How interested are you in
volunteering for HopeLab?”
“How interested are you in
making a donation to HopeLab?”
$4.42 $5.85 $3.07
Activates emotional mindset
Activates value-maximization
mindset

120. MYTH #9
Women are from Venus
and Men are from Mars

121. MYTH #9
BUSTED
Women are from Venus
and Men are from Mars

122. MYTH #10
I’m buying free drink for
everyone in the bar in...
oh, about 5 minutes
time

123. MYTH #10
BUSTED
I’m buying free drink for
everyone in the bar in...
oh, about 5 minutes
time

124. @damianobroin damian@askdirect.ie

125. THANK
YOU
@damianobroin damian@askdirect.ie