Posted on Tue, Aug 31, 2010
By Jim Hussey, President
I’m not referring to the type of pre-nuptial agreements that two individuals may sign before marrying, but the discreet pre-nuptial agreement that some consultants require their clients to sign as a part of their contracts.
Pre-nuptial agreements between nonprofit organizations and fundraising consultants? You haven’t heard of such a thing? That’s because these consultants do not call such an agreement a pre-nuptial. They often refer to the clause as a form of protection for the consultant’s intellectual property. But in the end, such an agreement has a similar impact as a pre-nuptial.
As a pre-nuptial agreement in a marriage may prevent a divorced spouse from walking away with a ton of cash, these contract clauses often prevent clients from using the formats and copy developed by the consultant should they choose to end the relationship. In other words, the consultant owns the content of the campaigns they’ve developed … the copy, the art, the concept … not the client.
I’ve seen this situation on several occasions while working for a new client, receiving legal notices from the previous consultants informing me that the client is not allowed to use control packages that they developed. On one occasion, I was even informed that we could not reference the statistics from previous mailings. In such situations, the client must often start from scratch.
Are such agreements legal? Yes. Is it the best arrangement for the nonprofit organization? No. While these firms argue that they are merely protecting their strategies and intellectual property, I believe it is often used as a method to intimidate a client from changing to another consultant.
As a client, you are paying your consultant to develop campaigns on your behalf, and your organization should own the resulting product. So before you sign that contract, be sure to carefully read the fine print.
Posted on Tue, May 11, 2010
By Annie Hughes, Vice President of Client Services
Mother’s Day was this past Sunday, and this holiday is always a great reminder for all of us that we need to recognize some of the most important people in our lives: our mothers.
Whether you send flowers, give a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant or simply a card from the heart, the motivation is the same—you want to show Mom how much she means to you.
There is a connection between the love we want to show mom and the appreciation organizations should be showing their donors all year long. And, the best way to show your donors how much their support means is to thank them – with an appropriate, timely message.
The amount your organization is investing in those thank you notes is worth it! It’s widely accepted that the health of an acknowledgement program and the quality of an organization’s cultivation tools are directly related to strong renewal rates, multiple gifts from donors and improved lifetime donor value.
Acknowledgements and other cultivation efforts should be seen as opportunities to expand on a donor’s relationship with the organization and further bond a donor to your cause, but there are some tricks of the trade that can help you get the most bang for your buck.
- Welcome Kits: Welcome kits do more than say thanks, these important packages showcase opportunities for additional engagement with donors who are just getting to know your organization and reminds them that they made a smart investment by joining your cause.
- Ask for A Second Gift: Don’t shy away from asking for a follow-up gift. Acknowledgements provide a golden opportunity to convert new donors to multi-giving donors with a special second gift ask.
- Cultivation Campaigns: It doesn’t hurt to send donors a no-ask cultivation letter and/or email to inform them of recent happenings at your organization. This will ensure that your donors feel a part of your efforts and that they are kept in the loop on the critical work your organization is doing. (You can even include a BRE to help offset the costs of a cultivation mailing.)
- Showcase Leadership Giving or Sustainer Programs: Within your welcome kit or acknowledgement program you can showcase special giving programs by inviting new donors to join the monthly giving sustainer program or major donor program depending on level of their first gift.
Just like you showed your mom how much you care last Sunday, a smart organization will make the most of every opportunity to cultivate the relationship they have with their donor base by showing their members how their involvement is critical to the success of the organization’s mission.
Is your nonprofit thanking and cultivating your donors? What other ways can an organization show their donors how much they care?
Posted on Tue, May 04, 2010
By Nicki Dahlquist, Account Representative
So I was asked to come up with a list of the “Top 10 Things I Learned during My First Year in Direct Mail” … Since this is my very first blog post and there was so much I learned, I decided to ask a few of my peers what they’ve learned too. Here is what we came up with:
- Recency. Frequency. Monetary. Donors that just gave are most likely to give again.
- I had NO idea there was really a way to check a barcode!!! 74210!
- Review all client copy edits before making them. Be cautious of anything that could dilute the copy or make a package less successful. Remember, even though they’re the boss, they pay you for your expertise.
- Proofreading is crucial. Do it out loud.
- Checklists will save you from making mistakes. They’re also a great way to keep track of what you’ve already done.
- The 80/20 Rule. 80% of an organization’s donations comes from 20% of its donors.
- The word “renewal” needs to be ALL over your renewal communications (i.e. OSE teasers, letter, reply headline, RAE, subject line, banner, callout box, P.S. etc.).
- Direct Marketing WORKS!
- Maintain a production schedule for all of your clients’ campaigns. This is essential to staying on track and creating a steady cash flow. It also helps your team know what needs to be done each day.
- Tracking your clients’ costs and staying under budget is very important. This is not only because of how important it is to make sure that you’re fundraising successfully, but also because it makes you and your organization give a much more professional impression.
Whew, that’s quite a bit. Did I leave anything important out? What did YOU learn in your first year?
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, Apr 13, 2010
By Brandon Hemel, Director of Analytics
In a deep, dark corner of the Adams Hussey & Associates office sits a team of over-caffeinated data heads, who wake up way too early in the morning and speak in a strange language called SQL.
As the Director of Analytics at AH&A and leader of our nerd-herd - btw that is NOT me :) I often get this seemingly simple request: “Can you guys go into our data and see what it tells us?”
Without fail, I find that I need to do additional research to figure out not just what happened but why it happened.
So to help you in case you are ever asked that question, I’m giving you an inside look at the most vital part of data analysis and you don’t even have to go through the pain of learning Structured Query Language (SQL).
The key aspect of investigation is adding perspective and insight into your results to get the why and not just the what.
Five Handy Things to Keep Around While Doing Historical Data Investigations
Time Lines of World Events
Unless your members and donors live in a vacuum, outside events will impact your fund raising efforts in both good and bad ways. But when looking back at your results after five or ten years has gone by, world events blend together. I find that Wikipedia.org and Infoplease.com are extremely helpful for these needs.
Metrics, Metrics, Metrics
Along with event timelines, consumer, government and world financial indices are great ways to compare and contrast your data against real world measures. My favorites are the Consumer Confidence Index, the Consumer Price Index and the Gross Domestic Product Index.
Metadata for your Source CodesAs Direct Marketers, we live and die by coding structure. If your data has inaccurate source codes or you have changed the schema – let your data analyst know this ahead of time (please!).
A Second Set of EyesDeep sea divers always work in teams and so should your analysts. A fresh perspective is always helpful.
Most importantly – you should always have a
Big ‘ole Book of Historical StrategyTo understand the framework of what it means when you see a distinct change in your data (whether it is a huge jump in revenue or a deep decline in membership), old memos, year-end reviews, or at least a person with a really good memory are invaluable when contextualizing your data.
Tell us what you think. How does your organization add perspective to your data? Data for the sake of data may be fun (!), but it won’t help your strategy or grow your organization.
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 16, 2010
By Stephen Godbout, Creative Director
It’s that time of year again, when the whole world is garnished in green. In fact, the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism of Ireland has coordinated a worldwide shamrock-explosion of green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Landmarks known the world over, such as the Empire State Building, the Sydney Opera House and Tokyo Tower are all donned in green this year, along with every Tom, Dick and Harry out there.
So how do you stand out in all this green? It’s the most applicable question to our industry that I can think of, so I asked a lad from Dublin, Ireland how he stands out when the whole world’s green on this special Irish day? I then applied his answers to direct marketing.
“Don’t wear green. Wear red.” Or any other color. Try a different size carrier. Different color teasers. Different size fonts.- “Hit the bar early.” If you’re in direct marketing, you’re in a highly competitive business, and it’s best to heed Ben Franklin’s wisdom: “the early bird gets the worm.” Get YOUR package, campaign, email, or call out there before everyone else does.
- “Avoid that daft ‘unicorn’ song.” Aside from “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” the most recognized song that Americans associate with St. Patrick’s Day is “The Unicorn.” According to my Irish source, he does not like being associated with unicorns, though the occasional leprechaun is just grand. I guess the correlation here is to think twice before you use a unicorn in your marketing...and to be sure to try new things. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you have to - or even that it'll work for you.
- “Know how to pour your Guinness.” Nothing identifies an authentic Irish bartender more than a correctly poured pint of Guinness. And yes, there is a correct way to pour Guinness. In the same way, nothing turns a donor off more than an organization that isn't credible. So present your organization factually and add credibility when possible...such as public recognition for your work or positive press from a respected publication.
- “Just because I’m Irish, doesn’t mean you can kiss me.” Don't presume anything about your donors - don't just plant a kiss - test, test, test!
There's a wealth of creativity, genius and donations lurking below the surface. (Need help finding it? We can help!)
What are you doing different from the glut of other organizations donned in green today vying for the same donations?