What are YOU Afraid of?

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By Jenny Allen, VP of Client Services

I don’t know what phobia keeps you up at night, rats, bats, spiders, or even needles and/or dentists, but what I’m afraid of as a direct marketer is...

That’s right I am afraid of kitchen garbage cans. They have the potential to kill any direct mail package we send. As direct marketers we know that the packages we create and send can make or break our client’s cash flow budgets. That if we are too boring, too cerebral, or say too much anyone can dump our work of art (read: heart and soul) into the trash as they sort the evening’s mail.

So in dealing with my phobia I did some research which tells me I only have 8 seconds to get and keep someone’s attention … but if I can get it, I may have as long as twenty minutes. So with this information in mind what are the things that I can do to ensure that I use that 8 seconds wisely?

So I have come to the logical conclusion that, as fascinating as the letter, insert, and the reply may be, if I expect to have anyone read them I must make the teaser and the outer envelope irresistible. Now that was the easy part. The hard part is how we do this.

So here are my top seven things to remember when creating carrier art and teasers:

1. It’s called a teaser not a lead – keep it brief and interesting.
2. Break Expectations – move away from the DM standards. Some people call it innovation. I call it the “what the hell is this?” factor.
3. Humor is subjective – tread carefully. When trying to be funny or tongue in cheek remember this little direct mail piece will be received by all types of people.
4. If you use graphics or photos, don’t overdo it. The lead on the carrier images should also be teasers as to what is inside.
5. Steal smart. Research what for-profit companies are sending. These folks have a lot of money to spend on testing and they use it! Look at the cable company, credit card, and/or bank promotions you get EVERY day.
6. Kicking it old school – slick often does not work! How many four color carriers get mailed more than once?
7. Renew – that simple word will give you so much. This is not a secret but if you are sending renewals, you better add the word “renewal” to the carrier – don’t think that people need to be tricked into renewing with cool treatments.

Here's one last bonus tip for you: Never stop testing your assumptions. Now, I’m positive that I am a genius, but I always like to have the data to back-up my assumptions.

What assumptions have you put to the test?

Testing: Proving women are easy and cheap!

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By Kim Cubine, Managing Principal

There are more women donors than there are male donors. For years, numerous nonprofit trend watchers and independent tracking groups have confirmed this fact.

What we really don’t know is why women contribute more frequently.

• Do women give more because they are more compassionate than men?
• Do women contribute more because they like to spend money?
• Do women actually have more free time than men?
• Do women give at the same level as men?

Well, I couldn’t really answer the first three questions outside of my own personal experience. But we could definitely test the giving level between men and women with organizations to determine if there was indeed a difference.

We decided to implement a "direct mail battle of the sexes."  Using a prospect control package we set up a series of ask string tests and split the file between men and women. The test panels were established as follows:

• Women received three ask string variations:  control ask, low dollar ask, and high dollar ask.
• Men received three ask string variations: control ask, low dollar ask, and high dollar ask.

Wow - women give at a higher rate but in every case they gave at a lower gift level than the men.

As a matter of fact, for the male test segments there was no statistical difference in the control and the high dollar asking string.

For women, the opposite was true. The low dollar test segment had a 20% increase in response rate over the control panel. And the lower average gift did not have a negative impact because the investment per donor was 13% lower due to the increased percent response.

Overall, it costs this organization less to recruit women than it does to recruit men.

This test was repeated in the house files and for some organizations we have now established different gender based asking strings depending on the test results.  

So by all means, if you haven’t pitted (I mean, “tested”) women against men on your donor file, do it today! And let us know what your results are!

Dear Jim... - A New Monthly Nonprofit Fundraising Blog Series -

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The Abigail Van Buren of fundraising gives it away for free.
By Jim Hussey

I’ve decided to offer my advice to all of you out there with questions about your fundraising troubles - a sort of “Dear Abby” column for the fundraising forlorn. I'm even willing to dole out this advice free of charge. Those with questions need not fear a monthly retainer bill or any other type of charge. Just please don’t tell any of my clients I'm giving it away for nothing! :-D 

Since this is a new idea, I have no letters to answer — yet (though I expect my inbox to swell soon!) — so to start the ball rolling, I’ve simply forged some on my own, based on questions I frequently hear. I'm hoping it’ll inspire you to comment with your own queries.

Dear Jim,

I come to you with an urgent problem. My boss has told me that I need to conduct “regression analysis” concerning previous fundraising campaigns for my organization. I hate to admit it, but I don’t even know what regression analysis is. I don’t want to appear stupid to my boss … can you please help me by explaining this term?

Sincerely, Unanalyzed

Dear Unanalyzed,

This term is a catch-all phrase for any type of analysis that utilizes previously gathered information. For example, if you want to figure out if men or women are more likely to respond to one of your fundraising solicitations, you can take the response data of previous campaigns and compare these results to the initial audience. Let’s say the results show that 50 percent of the original audience was male, yet 75 percent of your respondents are female … then you've figured out that women are your best prospects. Regression analysis also can be used to determine a multitude of other factors, such as seasonality, and retention and attrition rates.

Dear Jim,

My nonprofit organization is about to celebrate an important anniversary, and my boss wants me to develop a fundraising campaign around this date. Is this a smart thing to do?

Sincerely, Perplexed

Dear Perplexed,

Anniversaries can serve as an indicator to potential donors that your organization has stamina and isn't a fly-by-night operation. However, it’s always critical to remember that donors never provide you with a reward for past service. Donors always contribute toward a current or pending situation. A sense of urgency almost always is a requirement to any successful fundraising campaign. So proceed with your anniversary campaign … but put most of your focus on the present and future.

Comment with your Dear Jim questions and I'll answer a few each month!