client questions

After Canada Post’s statement on job action this week made headlines across Canada, we’ve had many clients contacting us with concerns and seeking advice.

It’s understandable. After all, so many of us are either in production for important fall and holiday mailings or are just about to be. A postal service disruption during the crucial November and December giving months could be devastating.

My advice? Take a deep breath and keep on going and be prepare to make some course corrections in the event of a strike.

Why, you ask?

First, I honestly believe both Canada Post and CUPW understand how devasting a severe and prolonged postal service disruption would be for both parties’ long-term interests.

Second, recent history points to a mild or averted disruption. In 2016, the strike was averted and the job action in the summer of 2011 lasted just over a week.

So what does this all mean in practical terms for you and your program right now?

Let’s look at the 2011 strike situation as an guide.

Back then, I had two clients in full direct mail production as the rotating strikes started. And a third had just mailed.

For the two clients in production we worked with vendors to quickly add an insert in one client package and a PPS to the other’s letter (according to the stage of production.)

The insert was extremely simple (think 1980s elementary school note-home-from-the-office, photocopied on canary yellow paper) that outlined the issue and gave donors options for making their gift besides using Canada Post (IE online or by phone).

The insert invited donors to call a specific person (the one signing the note; it was a very personal and informal message)) at the charity to make a gift. One client (a community hospital) even offered to have a staff member or volunteer pick up their cheque. Donors were also reminded they could make a secure and convenient gift online.

The message explained that their support was more important than ever because the postal disruption could mean that some people wouldn’t give so that their decision to help and give via another method was very important decision. The PPS stated the same info in a little more concise way.

The 3rd client who had already delivered their mailing to Canada Post added messages to their website and got the word out via an email alert, social media and did a voice broadcast call.

Following our advice, one client continued to inform their donors about the impact of the strike for the balance of the year, using buckslip inserts (same format and look as the original notice) in the final 3 solicitation packs for the year (fall campaign in September, holiday in November and year-end in December)

These messages let donors know that the June campaign results were lower than goal and explained the impact of the reduced revenue on the hospital staff and patients and restated the additional giving options (phone, personal pickup and online.)

Why am I so confident about this approach?

Because it worked.

Not one of my clients had year-on-year revenue reductions in 2011. And the client that continued the message for the balance of the calendar year? They had a record holiday campaign (the campaign that raises 45% of their entire DM annual revenue in a program that mails seven times per year), a record that still stands.

The key is to move forward thoughtfully and purposefully and be ready to make any needed adjustments. You’ll sleep better at night, be ready to seize opportunities to successfully engage your donors and deepen your relationship with them.

FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION, visit Canada Post’s update page.

Do you have any comments or an idea on how to survive a postal strike during the crucial holiday fundraising season? Share them here, or you can Email or call David (toll-free in North America on 1-800-991-3318 x101 or on our New Zealand freephone 0800 995 054).

When it comes to direct mail fundraising, it’s also the most unrewarding.

One of the questions I get asked most frequently when speaking at conferences or Fundraising Pharmacy training sessions is why I always recommend multiple mailings in a year. It’s not just people I meet who are new to direct mail or fundraising who ask. It’s a question that many seasoned fundraisers ask, too.

Effectively their queries boil down to this:

“Why not just send one highly effective and efficient appeal each year and be done with it?”

Seems like a great idea at first blush. We’d save staff time, mailing costs (and those pesky project consulting fees).

But years of testing and data analysis tell us that the most effective approach is more involved. Why? Well, when it comes right down to it, it’s because we are working with humans.

It’s difficult to get people’s attention, even loyal donors.

This is both good news and bad news.

First, the bad news…donors aren’t always paying attention to what we send them in the mail. And not every appeal theme or issue appeals to all donors. This is the “Right Ask at the right time” mantra that direct marketers live by. We have to send multiple appeals with multiple offers in order to capture as many people’s interest as possible.

And as Liz Rejman at Museum London also emphasized in a recent discussion on this very topic, “sometimes when we ask, it may not be a good time for a donor to make a gift or they may intend to donate and forget.”

Liz is bang on. Like a lot of things in life, timing is key! And since we can’t possibly time a single appeal to work for every single donor, sending multiple appeals is the best way to maximise your revenue and (even more important) maximise the number of donors that will stay current.

Now here’s the good news…

It’s actually a good thing that the one-perfect-mail-piece doesn’t exist. Because what we’ve learned over the years is that many donors will make more than one gift in a year. It stands to reason. They are passionate about the work you do…you share multiple ways their gifts can make a difference… some donors will decide to help more than once.

In fact, most organisations with mature direct marketing programs see an average of 1.3 gifts/donor/year.

This is very good, not just for the extra revenue from those 0.3 gifts, but also because the donors that send more than one gift in a year are a very valuable segment. They tend to be more loyal, more receptive to upgrading their giving, more likely to become monthly donors and much more likely to name your charity in their will.

Like so many things with direct mail and direct marketing fundraising, what at first appears to be inefficiency is actually an investment in the overall donor relationship and the attendant increase in fundraising revenue over the lifetime of your donors.

You can rest assured that sending multiple direct mail solicitations every year will help you raise the most funds in both the short and long term. Just make sure you add at least one or two stewardship pieces to keep donors informed and in love. And also put processes in place to ensure donor preferences can be honoured (IE: for donors who wish to receive only one solicitation mailing per year).

What’s your optimum direct mail appeal number? Are you boosting the effectiveness of each mail appeal with email, social media, the telephone and personal visits? Call David toll-free 1-800-991-3318 x101 today for a free assessment.

Keep Calm and Mail On

One is the loneliest number.

When it comes to direct mail fundraising, it’s also the most unrewarding.

What’s your optimum direct mail appeal number? Are you boosting the effectiveness of each mail appeal with email, social media, the telephone and personal visits? Call David toll-free 1-800-991-3318 x101 today for a free assessment.