Posted on Wed, Aug 18, 2010
By Amy O’Connor, List Planner
As direct marketers, we put our blood, sweat, and tears into every package we produce. As great as our work can be, it’s useless if we can’t actually get our package to our donors and prospects. Possibly the most important step we can take to make sure our lists are accurate is by using NCOA and PCOA processes. Here are a few of the most commonly-asked questions.
Q - What is Proprietary Change of Address?
A – Proprietary Change of Address is a type of change of address processing that collects data from commercial sources (banks, credit cards, magazine subscriptions, etc.) that have new change of addresses which were not reported to the post office in the traditional method: NCOA. The PCOA data can be used in direct mail campaigns to target the ideal address of an individual. PCOA might also be known as MaxCOA – each vendor that offers it typically uses their own naming convention.
Q – Who provides it?
A – Most merge purge and database service bureaus offer this service, however the name of this process vary between service bureaus.
Q – How do you use it?
A – PCOA is used to find the most recent change of address, that the Post Office and NCOA do not have listed, and therefore send all mail to hypothetically the ‘best’ address.
For example:
NCOA has John Smith at 123 Apple Street, NY, NY
PCOA has John Smith at 234 Banana Street, NY, NY through as the new address he gave to his subscription magazines.
If PCOA was used, John Smith would be mailed at his Banana Street address.
Q – When is Proprietary Change of Address a good idea?
A – Based on recent testing, we have found that PCOA is best used to find new addresses of lapsed contributors. These donors already have an established relationship with your organization, but have not recently responded to direct mail efforts. There is a cost associated with using this type of processing, and we have found it most effective to uncover donors who would have given but had been mailed at the wrong address. We have not found it to be an effective tool on rental names, as these donors have active information from the address the rental list provided.
I hope this served as a nice introduction to the change of address system. Do you have any more questions?
Posted on Tue, Apr 27, 2010
How to keep them coming back for more!
By Lynn Waller, Vice President of Client Services
You’ve done the hard part – recruiting new members – so now what?
The first year of membership is crucial to building a relationship with your members and getting that first renewal. Creating a stream of coordinated new member contacts is the key to building this relationship and is one of the most important things you do for your organization.
You’ve already “sold” them, so now how do you continue to engage them?
Don’t Tell the Whole Story at Once.
Just give the new member enough information in your first contact to get started – login information they can use to access their online benefits for instance, and get information from the member that can help you send them more targeted contacts later on (interests, email address, birthday, etc), and most importantly, welcome them into the organization and make them feel great about their decision to join.
Use What’s Already Working.
A newsletter or magazine are the perfect vehicles to push information out to your members. Try creating a new member version with an article that highlights a benefit, an online tool, a volunteer opportunity or another way they can easily get involved. Include a member page in each issue of your magazine – a place where members can go to read about new benefits and what the nonprofit is doing for them.
Don’t Forget to Integrate.
Make use of ALL communication channels, including online, and telemarketing. Call your new members, send them a video from the president, and/or invite them to a new member event. If you have their email address, send new members an email with a link to a tutorial, or a webinar that will show them how to use the products and services that you offer. Include a new member section on your website, exclusive for 1st year members – a place where they can interact with other members, volunteer, or read why a long-time member is glad that he/she joined.
The first year of membership for ANY member is the most important – if you are successful in building a solid relationship with the member they will be more likely to renew and become an active part of your organization.
How do you make new members feel like a vital part of your organization? Any ideas we left out?
Posted on Tue, Mar 30, 2010
By Nicola Bach, Director of List Planning Services Department
Being in the industry for almost a decade, I understand that if you're just considering utilizing lists to bring on new donors or member, it can be intimidating process. But it's actually quite simple to get started if you know the lingo. Here are the top 5 frequently asked questions about mailing lists that you may have thought about but were afraid to ask.
1. What is a ‘list’ and what is a data card?
- Many organizations choose to make a selection of their file of donors available for other like-minded organizations to mail to. This listing of names is informally known as a ‘list’.
- A data card provides information about a given list, the mission of the organization, how many donors are available to mail to, at what cost and if there are any special selection criteria available, such as gender, state selects, ethnicity, age, etc.
2. Can I purchase a list?
- Sure! But first, you may want to look for exchanges (exchanges are where you trade files with other organizations on name-for-name basis). That is, if you receive 10,000 names from an organization, you agree to let them mail to 10,000 of your organization’s donors within the same recency and frequency of last gift range.
- When a list is not available on exchange, an organization might still gain access to it on a rental basis. In this case, the organization pays a predetermined amount for using the names once. Exchanges and rentals are typically contracted for one-time usage.
3. What is the difference between a list manager and a list broker, aren’t they the same person? 
- Nope they’re not! Our in-house List Planning Department works with a variety of list brokers and managers. A list broker assists in recommending lists and helps coordinates access to lists. They keep track of the lists on the market: what’s new, what’s working and what to stay away from!
- A list manager is often a third party that manages requests for the usage of lists and coordinates delivery of lists to end users. They also help ensure lists are updated and “clean.”
- Often the list broker and the list manager work for the same company.
4. What is a multibuyer? 
- A multibuyer is a person who shows up on more than one list. And thus are typically quite responsive prospects. In addition, because they figure on more than one list, organizations can mail them as often as they appear on lists – for example, if an individual is on three lists that you purchase or exchange for, this person can be prospected to three times, two of these times at no additional cost.
5. How do I find new lists to test to my file?
- Well, if you’re one of our clients, you already get the added benefit of our long standing partnerships with list brokers for test ideas, AND since planning is centralized for all our clients we know what’s working for which organization and why. We use this knowledge to help inform and cross-pollinate test ideas for all our clients and often discover under-used or overlooked list markets.
If you’re not yet a client, take our FREE list health challenge and let us zero in on your targets to expand your donor/member base!
Posted on Tue, Mar 09, 2010
By Minyi Berlan, List Planning Services, AH&A
Did I catch your attention with “Free”? I hope so.
In today’s economy we can all save some money for our organizations, especially if "free" also improves our recruitment campaigns’ performance.
If you are involved in finding new donors or members for your organization, then you probably already know that prospecting list costs can be a good chunk of your direct mail acquisition budget – upwards of 20% for some campaigns, depending on the mix of rental versus exchange lists.
The truth is some of the best potential members and donors cannot be bartered for (via rental or exchange) because your organization already has access to them! If you look internally, I bet you’ll find some worthwhile “warm” prospect names – people who have already shown that they’re interested in your organization, but just haven’t gotten around to giving a gift of support – yet.
So here’s my quick list on where to look for FREE and better prospective donor or member names:
- Attendees at rallies, informational/educational sessions, or talk
- Visitors to your museum or operational facilities (if your organization provides tours)
If they are interested enough to show up to your events, they’ll be interested enough to hear how they can help.
- E-newsletter subscribers
- E-commerce customers
- Online action takers signing e-petitions and (hopefully) spreading the word to their friends
If someone is happy to sport your gear and tell their friends about you, chances are good that they’ll be proud to be a card-carrying member or donor too.
- Petition or Card Signers Only
Once in awhile, you will receive a signed petition or card of support in the mail, without a donation. These names are worth saving for a second mailing because sometimes that’s all it takes to underscore the importance of a financial gift in addition to their kind words of encouragement.
AND if they happened to include their email address, be sure to add them to your online conversion program too! (What you don’t have an online conversion program?!)
- Deep Lapsed Donors/Members
- These are the people who gave to your organization a long time ago, but are no longer mailed in your house renewal or appeal programs due to a lack of response.
Perhaps they were not in the position to give at the time, but circumstances might have changed and their desire to help is still there. Reach out to them again, in case they forgot about your organization in the midst of their busy lives.
- If your organization provides a service (such as job placements or community outreach), don’t underestimate the power of paying it forward.
- As many educational institutions already know, alums are often your best source of prospective donors.
Many of our clients find that their warm prospect lists tend to perform on par or better than top outside lists.
So start talking to people within your organization to uncover these valuable leads. And please leave a comment, if I am missing any sources you use for warm prospect leads. Idea exchanges are always welcome!
Posted on Tue, Mar 02, 2010
I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of the innovative packages this year as much as I did!
As promised, the seminar provided top notch suppliers with truly great ideas that can bring your packages to the next level.
Whether you attended to see what’s happening in the world of green initiatives, new packages that you could test in upcoming mailings, back end or front end premiums, or new list selection tools … it was all shown.
What was your favorite part of the day?
Mine was seeing just how many new ways there are to make the mail box more interactive – who says direct mail is dead?! And just how many of those ways are increasingly environmentally friendly! Check out these pictures of the exhibitors and some of their standout samples:
Each year attendees vote on the most innovative piece and this year’s winner was Ready Solutions and their super cool “Sac Pak” … a cloth bag that starts as the carrier (envelope) itself and unfolds to be a very usable premium – either a tote bag or backpack!
If you weren’t able to attend, I hope you followed our live
tweets last Thursday – AH&A is excited to bring direct mail online :)
Use the comments tool! We’d love to hear your thoughts about the seminar, our updates, or just the state of
direct mail in general…