Direct mail | Creating Donor Chemistry

Keep Calm and Mail On

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).

Are you treating your Monthly Donors like cherished family members?

Monthly donors (aka regular givers) are incredibly valuable to your charity, so it’s critical to roll out the welcome mat and make them feel like cherished members of your family. That starts with exceptional stewardship right from the beginning of the relationship.

Stewardship starts by having a rock-solid gift-fulfillment process. By managing this pivotal detail, you show from day one that you care about the donor’s gift and are trustworthy and well-organised.

Next you should do everything in your power to make sure the donor is thanked as soon as possible, and in the most personal way. A thank you telephone call within 48 hours of the gift is the gold standard. It’s also a fantastic way to verify donor details. (But this call shouldn’t replace a written thank you…you literally cannot say thank you too much or too often).

Then, within a week, send an emotionally engaging and personal New Donor Welcome Package (NDWP) by post (even for online donors). While you should have an NDWP for all of your new donors, make sure the package for your monthly donors is a little more special. You can start simply by investing time in a live signature and a handwritten note.

Finally, send an email follow-up a week or so after the first gift has been processed so you can check-in with your new monthly donor. Ask them if they’ve received the NDWP and have any questions. You’ll reinforce that you genuinely care and it’s also a nice way to lead them into your monthly donor communications schedule for the balance of the year.

The ultimate goal for your welcome process is to make your new donor feel like they’ve made a good investment with their commitment to a monthly gift for your organisation.

Do you need some help creating chemistry with monthly donors? Email or call David (toll-free in North America on 1-800-991-3318 x101 or on our New Zealand freephone 0800 995 054) today for free, no obligation advice.

One is the loneliest number.

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.

From idiot to trusted friend in 13 sentences.

Recently our team was working with a client that had some issues with their database and accuracy of their records.

Sound familiar?

There were a group of contacts that only had business information and addresses, but no contact name information. Many of these donors had given 5 and even 6 figure gifts.

Together, we decided that waiting until the data was perfect or avoiding a solicitation of these donors was not an acceptable solution. We put our heads together and came up with an idea:

Why not just be up front about the deficiencies in the records and ask donors to help us fix it?

This is the kind of stuff that people love to help with.

So, together we wrote a very simple, direct and honest letter that explained that we were rather embarrassed to be missing key information about such a loyal and generous donor. Next, we asked the donor to share 3 pieces of information (name, phone number and email) at the bottom of the page and pop it in the postage paid return envelope along with their kind gift.

The client printed the letter themselves, along with the simple update form, all on a single sheet of letterhead (at a cost of less than a penny per note) and added it into the unsealed packages we had returned after processing at the mailhouse.

Easy, inexpensive and personal.

I almost wish we had more records with missing information, so we could make more use of this highly engaging approach.

I know we worry about looking unprofessional or *gurk* incompetent in front of donors. But the reality is these kinds of errors exist and most people understand, especially if you are upfront and honest about it.

Try this approach next time you run into a mistake. I guarantee this is one donor engagement idea that will make Mom proud!

A Stewardship Booster Shot

You’re working hard on your Thanksgiving and Holiday solicitations, right?

Perfect! After all, you are about to head into the busiest fundraising season for virtually every charity in Canada. And this is the best time to bring in money for your organization through the mail, phone, online and with personal asks.

But hang on for just a second.

I want you to promise me one thing… You see, in such a whirlwind season, a normally healthy donor relationship can start to feel unwell.

So, promise me you will take the time to get a stewardship booster shot!

Here are three quick, affordable and easy ways you can make sure you inoculate your fundraising program against donor fatigue and burnout.

Send a donor newsletter in the fall. – it’s not too late. Aim to drop it in mid-October, in between your Thanksgiving appeal and your holiday solicitation. A short simple, single sheet of 8.5×11 with 2 to 3 short articles and a few pictures will do the trick. Pop it in the mail, take it on a visit, send it by email. Make sure your donor has a quick update on what’s going on at your organization and tell them how their gifts are making that work possible.
Polish up your thank you letter. Write a fresh and personal thank you for all the gifts you receive in the fall. Make sure your donors feel well-thanked before heading into an intense solicitation cycle. Your well-crafted and sincere thank you will make you stand out in the crowded holiday asking season
Send a “We Love You” email in early December. Have your Executive Director/CEO (or another respected leader at your charity) send a warm email at the beginning of December. It should be very short, with a simple message thanking the donor for their generosity throughout 2012. It should gush a little (but make sure it is genuine) but still be short. No ask, just love.

No matter how you do it, please set aside some time to find opportunities to inject stewardship into your busy schedule.

It’s a good way to keep your donor relationships healthy. And healthy donor relationships always mean you could have the holiday best fundraising season ever!

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.

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