Direct mail

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Christmas should be appeal heaven for nonprofits

Between the people who want to give and the people you want to help, Christmas should be appeal heaven. Seasonal periods are also an opportunity to refill the coffers through seasonal asks or gifting campaigns. Except it sometimes feels like you’re fighting a cage-match of competition, with the prize being donors generosity and attention. The fact of the matter is that 77% of charities are starting their Christmas appeals over November-December and there aren’t enough donors to go around to support fundraising targets.

EDM, direct mail, call centres, and social media will still deliver good results, but too often it’s the same one-way message in many formats which lead to ‘donor fatigue’. Lets us not forget we are targeting comms to humans with limited attention spans and capacity to absorb information. 85% of people want to say something back when an organisation talks to them. However, traditional channels mean they won’t even hear you in the first place! Smart NFP’s are making use of uncluttered channels like chat and SMS. SMS has had a bit of a renaissance lately, getting almost triple the open rate email does, at 94%, which makes sense when you think about how easy it is to check and respond to texts.

Artificial Intelligence is Key

But just leveraging SMS to deliver campaign comms isn’t enough. On average, conversion rates rise by 19% when you use personalisation. Donors don’t like feeling marketed to, they want to be treated as real people, they want to be thanked, and they often need conversation. Trying to talk to everyone requires automation but talking to a robot is the exact opposite of what donors want – unless the robot can learn and speak like a person. The need for automated, yet personalised marketing is driving the recent surge in popularity of AI backed marketing and technology (martech) platforms in marketing departments. Whether it’s creating the content, segmenting contacts, or directly handling communications, AI is key to simplifying business processes.

We’ve been working hard at RunGopher to deliver a fresh and unique platform that integrates AI and natural language processing with automated SMS, allowing non-profits to automate thousands of conversations without losing the personal touch. This new breed of conversational SMS drives growth outcomes such as lead capture, lead nurture, call scheduling, web traffic campaigns, expired credit card alerts, web promotions, NPS surveys… the Gopher is a very clever bot!

Out-of-the-box conversations include online donations, volunteer acquisition, meeting scheduling, volunteer retention, donor welcomes, dormant list engagement, donation upgrades, and much, much more. Plus, marketers can combine conversations to create nuanced Journeys based on trigger events and can use CRM and API integrations to build fully automated SMS funnels which complements and enhancements the results of parallel channels in the donor journey!

Results for UNHCR and Oxfam

The Gopher’s SMS conversations create synergy. UNHCR finding their email click-through rate doubled, and overall conversion rate trebled, when they added RunGopher to their marketing channels.

In fact, UNHCR’s Rohingya crisis appeal using RunGopher’s Donation conversation (which includes a tracked weblink with a branded URL) contacted 130 000 people – and delivered ROI of $2.22!

And how about Oxfam? Their trailwalker event needed volunteers, and they had databases full of phone numbers. RunGopher’s Tell a Friend conversation helped them reach out to existing volunteers to bring in friends and got them around 350 new volunteers. In fact, Oxfam tested their sales team against the Gopher… The Gopher delivered 3 times the registrations at a quarter of the cost!

Watch an explainer video, learn about the Journey, or check us out here.

 

RunGopher automates SMS conversations using AI to create natural interactions which engage customers and simplify marketing. They offer a variety of out-of-the-box conversation templates, specifically designed to welcome donors, re-engage volunteers, collect online donations, and much, much more. Chat to them today by emailing info@rungopher.com or visit their website 

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Lots of discussion about excessive premiums in charity direct mail

PremiumThere have been lots of discussions about “excessive” premiums in charity direct mail lately. The conversation was raised in various circles, including at the Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA) conference, as well as during the development of the new FIA Code. Card packs, pens, shopping bags, and other items are sent to various prospective donors to entice them to give a first time gift to a charitable organisation.

The fact is premiums work for some charitable organisations and premiums have proven to be a strong method to get people to give. On a recent visit to my parent’s in the United States, I found dozens of packs of address labels and other items sent to them from various veteran, healthcare, and other types of non-profit organisations. They have enough address labels to wallpaper a small bedroom.

The “debate” and discussion around premiums raises several questions:

  • Who decides what is excessive?
  • Should the cost of the premium item for a direct mail donation be deducted from the value of the donation for tax purposes?
    • The US follows a similar rule.
  • How do charity lotteries fit into this discussion – i.e. the luxury automobiles, $1 million+ homes, boats, and lavish holidays that are given away by hospitals, medical research, and other types of non-profits?
  • Does the ratio of those luxury prizes to the cost of the ticket mean they are excessive?

In interest of full disclosure, I am a big fan of charities using premium packages for their direct mail and they cause me, as a private donor, to respond. I have seen some fairly create premium packs used by some key direct mail suppliers in the Australian marketplace. That said, the debate is worth having and this discussion is worth the calories. I purchase many lottery tickets from the likes of the Mater Foundation, MS Queensland, RSPCA NSW, and others. Also, in interest of accuracy, FIA chose to remove clauses related to excessive premiums from their Code.

 

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One charity has sent seven acquisition pieces in five months

Acquisition direct mailI have never lived at my parents’ address in New Mexico USA. Yet, one charity thinks I currently live with my parents. In fact, this one charity has sent seven acquisition pieces in five months.

I am not against charity acquisition mail. In fact, I welcome it and believe it is a necessary part of the charitable direct marketing mix. But, what puzzles me is why this particular charity thinks I live at this address. Even more, I wonder how the charity associated me with my parents at this address when, in fact, I’ve not lived with my parents for 33 years and never lived in the US state of New Mexico.

The direct mail pieces include membership offers, as well as return address labels. The address labels look fantastic. I wish I could use them; however, to use them will mean I will attract even more mail to my parents’ address!

I have a responsibility to contact this non-profit organisation to ask where my name was acquired. Informing them will solve the mystery and will also save the charity postage, mailing, and material costs. Most recipients will not exercise this responsibility and will, instead, let the issue bother them or, worse, discuss it with others. (Okay, I am blogging about it; but I am not naming the charity directly). The charitable organisation, likewise, has a responsibility to cease mailing me at my parents and to investigate the source of their data to see if an algorithm or some other issue caused names like me to make it onto the file.

 

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Salvation Army does it again

I’ve talked about standing out in the letterbox in several past blog posts. It’s really the key to successful direct mail. Your piece has to stand out amongst all the postal mail one receives. If the letter does not get opened, it is not going to get a response.

wishesSalvation Army stood out in my letterbox last Friday by being the first charitable organisation to send me their Christmas appeal!

The appeal is a Christmas Wish catalogue, which is full of items I can purchase to change the lives of those Salvation Army supports. Once purchased, I will receive a gift card and envelope to give to a person on my list to share the joy of giving. A simple concept and something that stood out in my letterbox on the last day of September.

 

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Non-profits should get on with it – make the ask

Replay mail

Which charities acquire the most donors, the most gifts, and the largest donations? The ones who make an ask.

I’m not talking about asking for gifts of $100,000+. You and I know it takes a while to make a major ask. You and your organisation must have a solid relationship with the prospective donor and the timing has to be right for the donor. After all, this is the donor’s schedule and not yours or your organsiation’s schedule. This can take 18+ months.

I am speaking about asks which typically happen via direct mail, telemarketing, and online channels.

It puzzles me the number of charity pieces which are sent to donors and prospective donors and where the ask is either buried in the piece or there is no ask at all. Why bother to produce the piece? Even worse are the pieces which are sent containing a response envelope with no call to action.

A few simple steps will boost your charity’s bottom line:

  • Ensure there is an ask in every marketing piece.
  • Don’t make it a mystery for donors to figure out how to make a gift.
  • Make the ask prominent.
  • Make the ask multiple times throughout the marketing piece.
  • Offer the prospective donor multiple channels to make their gift.
  • Don’t make it difficult for the donor to make their gift by requiring them to cut panels out of newsletters and to complete other art projects.

I often times say Australian charities do not ask for donations enough throughout the course of a financial year. It’s true. I back it up by saying I am a “pushy American” making that statement. But, push the envelope. Donors will tell you when they have had enough and inform you of their communication preferences accordingly.

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Major donors should receive direct mail pieces

Snip20160516_13We have all worked for organisations where members of the major gifts team did not wish for “their donors” to be contacted via the organisation’s direct mail.

This is insanity. Here’s why:

  • With an average portfolio of about 150 people, it is unlikely, although not impossible, the major gifts staff person takes the time to have personal contact with the each person in his or her portfolio.
  • The only means the donor may hear from the charitable organisation is through direct mail.
  • The donor likely learns a good amount of information about the nonprofit organisation through the appeals.
  • The donors or prospects in the pool have not made this opt out request. Instead, the organisation staff person has made the choice for the donor.
  • Due to the lack of communication, it is likely the donor will feel “forgotten” or lose touch with the charity. If the charity is not in contact with them via direct mail, you can be sure another charity where they give a major gift is reaching out through the letterbox.
  • Opting to not send direct mail to people in one’s portfolio suggests the major gifts officer is not a team player and, in fact, suggests he or she considers direct marketing to be “dirty” or “junk mail”.
  • The donors and prospects in a major gifts officer’s portfolio are not their donors. These donors and prospects belong to the organisation.

I am not suggesting everyone in a major gifts portfolio should receive direct mail pieces. In fact, there will be donors or prospects who opt themselves out from receiving certain pieces of mail. We must abide by such requests. Your database will be able to handle opt outs and communications preferences in a sophisticated manner.

Staff creating blanket rules for donors is not smart. Instead, take the time to create a high dollar package. Work in concert with the direct marketing person on your fundraising team to customise the experience for the donor and be part of the appeal effort rather than work against.