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 20, 2010
By Shannon Murphy, Vice President of Production
It’s the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day! As you know, more and more of today’s mail is our beloved “Dear Friend” letters, so it’s vital that we do the most we can to follow the old adage of the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and … of course … recycle to make direct mail as eco-friendly as possible.
Even kids know the importance of recycling. My 6-year-old often comes to me and asks if she can recycle the newspaper or a magazine. Then she walks with great pride to the recycle bin because she knows that this paper will now get a second life and be used for something new, maybe even one of Mom's direct mail pieces.
Do you ever wonder how in the world they take the paper from my magazine or newspaper and use it again? Well, here's how they do it:
Step 1 You first place your newspapers, magazines and other papers to the curb for the recycling truck to pick up.
Step 2 Paper from your house and other homes is combined and sold to a paper dealer.
Step 3 Once at the paper mill it goes through a chemical process called de-inking, in which ink and sticky materials are removed from the paper and the fibers of the paper are separated and turned into pulp.
Step 4 The pulp is bleached and wood chips are added to give strength to the paper.
Step 5 The pulp is poured onto a belt which drains the moisture. By the time the pulp reaches the end of the belt, it's strong enough to go through the steam-heated rollers to create a flat sheet of paper.
Recycled paper is used more and more in today's direct mail industry. Organizations want their donors or clients to know that they are environmentally friendly. There are different percentages of post-consumer waste in paper. The most available stocks are composed of 10% and 30% recycled materials. The higher the percentage you want to use, the more costly the paper will be. While we want to show the people receiving our mail that we do our part saving the environment, we simply can’t break the bank in the process.
So what type is right for you? Before making any decisions on what paper to use, make sure you ask your production team to research the different options for you.
And it’s not just the paper for your letters! It’s the carriers, address labels, and even your membership cards. Just think of all the paper products that go out to your supporters and members and ask your self could we be greener?
Happy Earth Day! I wish you many years of green trees, warm sun and blue skies.
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, Apr 06, 2010
Here are some tips to break out of that writing rut.
By Jim Hussey, President
Whether professional writers generating grant applications, direct-mail copy and annual reports or just authors of everyday memos, all of us have been plagued by writer’s block.
Writer’s block is something that I consistently battle. As a copywriter, the author of frequent memos and proposals, and, in this case, a blog, I constantly find myself facing the mental brick wall that brings the flow of writing to an abrupt halt.
Great authors such as Faulkner, Fitzgerald and Hemingway often turned to alcohol as their remedy. However, drunkenness generally is frowned upon by clients, colleagues, family members and family doctors. As a result, I have attempted to avoid this route.
Instead, I’ve developed other tactics and queried fellow writers about their own strategies. Maybe some of these ideas can help you.
Plow on through
The most common strategy is just to start writing and push through the mental barrier that’s blocking you. In this case, it doesn’t matter what you write, just write it. You can go back and edit later. Chances are you’ll find yourself on a roll within a couple of minutes.
I also find it helpful to occasionally walk away from the computer and do it “old school” style by getting a pen and paper and just writing longhand. I often find that while writing on a computer, I edit my work as I go along instead of concentrating on the idea I’m writing about. Writing by hand breaks me out of that habit.
You also don’t have to write in a coherent order. When I'm writing a four-page direct-mail package, I often will skip from the first page to the last page. Or if I hit a wall, I’ll skip away from the letter altogether and begin writing another component, such as the reply form or an informational insert.
Look at the competition
All of us have hundreds of seed packages from other organizations laying around our offices. Grab a handful and start reading. You probably will learn a few new techniques that will open your mind to new possibilities.
Such methods not only will help you break out of writer’s block, but they also will help you expand your arsenal of writing styles.
Avoid distractions
A ringing telephone and the quiet “ding” heralding the arrival of new e-mails often will prevent you from getting into the flow of writing. When I’m under a tight deadline in such situations, I often grab my laptop or a pen and some paper and head out of the office to a local coffee shop to find some peace, quiet and inspiration. A latte and a dose of Muzak can work miracles.
As one of my colleagues told me, “Never underestimate the power of caffeine."
Start again in the morning
My business partner, Greg Adams, refuses to start a project late in the afternoon.
“When you've reached a point of frustration, it’s OK to leave and come back to it the next day,” he adds. “Then, in a moment of relaxation, the idea hits you. Your subconscious keeps gnawing on it until a solution is found.”
How have you overcome writers block? I'd love to hear your tricks and techniques!