new year's resolution: improving your annual appeal

a webinar from Adcieo and Third Sector Labs

© 2014 Third Sector Labs, Inc.

1. Improving your annual appeal.

2.

800.383.3854 | www.thirdsectorlabs.com

The holidays just wrapped (pun intended) and everyone is recovering

Your 2013 year-end appeal response should finish soon

We’d like to talk about how to improve the appeal … now… before you become swamped by the next task or event

Welcome

1. Introductions2. Talk about the fundraising appeal process a bit3. Review what the experts are telling us about

better appeals4. Separate content from data5. Look at an example6. Recommendations7. Conclusions

Agenda

Adcieo is a leader in fundraising consulting, social media and the use of fundraising technology

Debbie Snyder is the VP of Sales and Marketing Debbie’s leadership experience includes EDS,

KindMark, Kintera and Merkle, Inc.

Website: www.Adcieo.comEmail: debbie.snyder@adcieo.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/debbie-snyder/0/448/89b

Who are we? Adcieo

Third Sector Labs is a data services company challenging nonprofits to re-think their data practices

Gary Carr is the Founder and President Gary’s leadership experience includes Carr

Systems, Kintera, KindMark and United Way

Website: www.ThirdSectorLabs.com Email: gcarr@thirdsectorlabs.comLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gpfcarrOur data tip of the week: Facebook & Twitter

Who are we? Third Sector Labs

Shall we get started?

It’s January …Planning was doneWebsite was updatedDirect mail was sentEmails were sentSocial messaging updated

And now …Responses coming inResults being tallied

How was your year-end appeal?

What’s on everyone’s mind?

Executive Director: “What’s

the number?”

Chairman:

“Did we hit our goal?”

Director of Development:“Can I keep

my job?”

Anonymous staffer:

“It feels like feast or famine.”

Is anybody talking about the most common mistakes made

with an annual fundraising appeal?

And is it too late?

No … and, no!

The anatomy of the annual appeal

Let’s break it down (briefly)

Year-end appeal

Data

StyleMateria

ls

#1: Components

Content

Planning&

budget

Before

• Planning• Messaging• Materials• Website• Direct mail• Email• Social media

During

• Donations received

• Results tallied• Inquiries

answered

After

• Enter data• Update records• Send out

responses

#2: Schedule of activities

What are the most common mistakes?

What do the experts say?

Start with the leading search engines …

Use a variety of search terms and questions …

To find the most consumed advice …

Let’s find out

Top 30 articles 90%+ in the past two years

156 total recommendations

Which we organized as follows: Content only Content and data Data only

And our survey found …

Content only Weak call to action (CTA) Failure to tell stories Failure to demonstrate impact Failure to personalize Small fonts Too much content … too little Too many communications … too few Sloppy mistakes, misspellings Failure to thank donors

Examples of what we found

Content only = messaging, style, materials, communication frequency, etc.

Content and data Treating all donors the same The ask is too small Failure to track responses to

the appeal, analyze the results Failure to research prospective

donors / audiences in order to determine the right message

Examples of what we found

Content + data =Content decisions depend upon data analysis

Data only Failure to reach out to lapsed donors Failure to reach out to new donors Failure to track fundraising stats Failure to clean and update your donor list

Examples of what we found

Data only = Action is strictly data related

We graphed the problem

(because we are data-heads)

Examples of the adviceB

efo

re …

……

….

Aft

er

Content …………. Data

Better plan

Envelope designFonts

Send reminders Collect the pledge

Research prospects Mailing list

Stronger CTADon’t treat all donors the sameDon’t ignore lapsed

donors

Track donor stats

Thank donors

Tell stories

Track responses vs messages

Larger asksPersonalize

Simple writing styleConvey urgency, impact

Befo

re …

……

….

Aft

er

Content ………..…. Data

81%6%

4%

4%

2%

1%

2%

The mistake about the most common mistakes

What does the survey data tell us?

The survey data says …

81% focus on content related activities before the appeal

12% vaguely discuss content-related data issues, but offer little direction

Only 7% discuss what to do after the appeal … and most are thank you reminders

Only 3% address data

Recommendations for “Content + Data” …Recommendations for “Data” …

All require interpretation to understand that the issue is data.

For example …

Problem:Nobody is talking “data”

Nobody explains things like … How you do something such as track an appeal

response against the message, or How do you NOT treat all donors the same, or How do you analyze lapsed givers

This work starts with data.

Bigger Problem:Nobody is explaining “data”

In other words …

With so much of your effort going into pre-appeal, content-related activities …

This is why every fundraising appeal feels like “feast or famine”.

“Feast or famine”

What do we do?

Where do we start?

Good advice

“The temptation to form premature theories is upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession.” – -- Sherlock Holmes

Is he talking about solving crimes or fundraising?

Rule #1: If the data is poor, the content does not matter

Rule #2: What you do AFTER the appeal matters as much

as what you did BEFORE

Start here: two simple rules

So, how can you improve the appeal?

Let’s look at an example

‐ Older Adults

‐ Professionals

‐ Retirees

‐ Faith Based

‐ Baltimore Natives

‐ Volunteers

Individuals

Corporations

‐ Member Organizations

‐ Baltimore Based‐ Shared Vision‐ Personal Connection

GEDCO Donor

• Direct Mail and Newsletters• Online Engagement• Events• Phone-A-Thon• Board Fundraising• Individual Calls

How does GEDCO reach it’s donors?

From data to impact

EOY 2012 EOY 2011 $0

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

$120,000

$140,000

$160,000

Online Dona-tions Appeal ResponsesThanksGiving Tribute

Results: Comparison of EOY Giving

New donors Higher gifts from current donorsUse of communications

Supported and framed final appeal Personal look at residents and

clients

Why the Increase?

Bringing it all home

Act now! The “after” to one appeal is the “before” to the next one.

Your appeal response is producing thousands – tens of thousands? – more? – of new data points … are you prepared?

First and foremost

Plan and commit to the plan

Separate the management of donor data from the activities needing that data.

Data management requires you to be

PROACTIVEnot REACTIVE

Our recommendations

1. Clean your data … REGULARLY2. Check all data sources into your database3. Ask for the data that you want from your donors

This is the easiest and cheapest way to enrich your data

4. Segment your donors and messaging Do you know how your donors want to communicate? Are you delivering the right messages to the right

people?

5. Plan to turn higher quality data into improved fundraising results

Our recommendations

This approach applies to ALL of your fundraising activities …

Not just your annual appeal …

But you probably figured that out!

Hint

... Start with a data assessment, schedule data hygiene or develop a data quality plan

… Strategic planning and execution, to turn your improved data into better fundraising results

How we can help

Every organization must

(a) plan

and

(b) budget

for good data management

Conclusion

Befo

re …

……

….

Aft

er

Content ………..…. Data

81%6%

4%

4%

2%

2%

Go from “feast or famine” fundraising

1%

Befo

re …

……

….

Aft

er

Content ………..…. Data

81%6%

4%

4%

2%

? % =$$

2%

To sustainment

Executive Director: “We are

tracking to the plan.”

Chairman:

“We hit our

goal!”

Director of Development:

“I can keep my job!”

Anonymous staffer:

“Already working on

the next appeal.”

Questions ???

You can read more about this topic on our blog at:

Thirdsectorlabs.com

Please stay tuned for upcoming webinars in February:

1. “You can’t take it with you: why you don’t want to migrate all of that old data into a new CRM”

2. “If your data isn’t getting better, it’s getting worse: why?”

Thank you for attending!