Election Is Double-Edged Sword for Fundraisers

Nonprofit fundraisers are entering a presidential election year, arguably one that is more contentious and partisan than usual. Will that be good or bad for fundraising? What strategies will help navigate the political crosscurrents to reap donations? Research by online fundraising platform Classy has found that an "election effect"can drive an "unprecedented increase" in recurring donations for some nonprofits aligned with politically charged issues. Per 2019 Classy research, 46% of respondents said their political beliefs dictate the organizations or causes that will receive their donations. Classy suggests some basic strategies to use political winds to propel efforts to bump up new donors and recurring donations: 1) go back through donor data from the 2016 election to see how donations were affected before and after election day, taking into account political party as well as demographics and the timing of spikes; 2) pay attention to news about political issues that my relate to your cause for timely and targeted positioning of appeals; 3) reach out to existing donors and ask how the 2020 election is impacting plans to donate in order to decide how and when it's best to ask for a donation; and 4) embrace flexibility in strategy so that you can adjust efforts to shifts in the national conversation. But not all nonprofit causes can be linked to political issues. In a Forbes magazine post, Gloria Horsley, founder of Open to Hope Foundation, acknowledges the positive "election effect" for fundraisers that align with political agendas but notes a potentially negative impact on other nonprofits when more politically charged sectors noisily take center stage and siphon donor attention. One approach for nonprofits that can't leverage political issues is to illustrate how helping the nonprofit can produce tangible results, in contrast to the less certain outcomes of political efforts. Donors with an emotional connection to an organization will dig deeper and stay longer—even in an election year. That's where storytelling content makes a difference. In a post for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), fundraising consultant Linda Wise McNay cites storytelling as one of the top eight 2020 trends that nonprofits should embrace. She urges fundraisers to collect intimate, personal stories about beneficiaries of the nonprofit's work, and then share those stories in print, online, on the phone and in person. McNay of AFP also sounds a note of caution about politicizing efforts: "Be wary of saying anything too controversial to your constituents that may be considered taking a position on one side or the other....Your goal is to be still operating after the election, no matter which side wins the election in November." See our website post at https://www.acculist.com/election-year-is-double-edged-sword-for-nonprofit-fundraisers/

Politics Marks 2015 Top Nonprofit Mailers, E-mailers

Target Marketing magazine recently published a list of the top 10 mailers and e-mailers in the nonprofit sector for 2015, using Who's Mailing What! data from monitoring of mailboxes and inboxes. For direct mail, the list of top nonprofit marketers is eclectic, with strong representation by animal welfare and humanitarian causes; just the top five mailers are the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Wounded Warrior Project, AARP, Republican National Committee and World Wildlife Fund. Only the Republican National Committee indicates the ramp up to a 2016 election year. However, when it comes to the top nonprofit e-mailers, politics is paramount, with all top 10 e-mailers from politically motivated campaigns; just the top five are the Center for Individual Freedom, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Republican Presidential Task Force and National Republican Congressional Committee. For the complete lists, go to http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/2015-top-10-nonprofit-mailers-emailers/

Prepping Non-Political Ads for Social Election Impact

The 2016 presidential election is already grabbing headlines, ad space and social media attention, and it's only going to get more intense. This election cycle, non-political marketers not only have to be concerned about competition for consumer attention in broadcast media and direct mail, they will need to plan for a political blitz in social media, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Marketers need to start planning now for how to prevent their non-political messages from being drowned out, squeezed out, and priced out of the social media space. A recent Direct Marketing News magazine article by Perry Simpson, digital content coordinator, warns that cost-per-click (CPC) pricing--a popular way to sponsor and boost posts on Facebook and other social sites--is likely to increase significantly as politicians fight for attention. Simpson suggests three ways to prepare now for the social impact of the election frenzy. First, analyze your geographic performance, especially on a state level. Excluding battleground states, which are likely to see larger CPC spikes, is one option if those states are not key to performance. Next, test and hone messaging now to make sure your creative is as compelling as possible, since cost-per-click on networks like Facebook is affected by click-through rate (higher response lowers CPC). Finally, tighten up CPC bids before the election grabs the market. Lowering bids closer to your desired CPC will avoid outstripping target spend when bids start to climb because of political competition. For more detail, read http://www.dmnews.com/social-media/3-tips-for-non-political-marketing-during-the-presidential-elections/article/427133/

How Direct Marketing Shaped the Recent Election

Political campaigning in 2012 leveraged a range of sophisticated direct marketing tools -- and left behind important lessons on what worked and what missed the mark. An excellent "Target Marketing" magazine article has surveyed the direct marketing tactics that shaped the recent election, noting how Democrats and Republicans employed large, complex voter databases; "retargeting" web services for more effective online ads; micro-targeting analytics for personalized direct messaging; social media endorsements; and targeted e-mail and texting to capture votes and donations. For a detailed discussion, read the full article at http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/election-2012-barack-obama-mitt-romney-microtargeting-retargeting-mobile-marketing-social-media-voter-databases/1

Most Web Users Resist Tailored Political Ads

Almost 9 out of 10 Web users prefer political campaigns to not tailor online ads to their interests, according to a study by University of Pennsylvania researchers. Take heed candidates and causes: Consumers may see your clever political "microtargeting" to adapt online ads to demographics as intrusive and presumptuous. For details, see the recent smartbrief.com report.

Obama, Romney Plan to Use Mobile Giving

For the first time in a presidential race, U.S. consumers will be able to donate to their candidate of choice with their mobile phones. All they'll have to do is text a keyword to a short code for a predetermined amount, and the donation is charged on their phone bill -- a method that recently has worked well for many charitable fundraisers. SMS donations for the presidential candidates had been approved by federal regulators earlier in the summer but were held up by the wireless carriers as they sought legal protections over fraud and profitability. Both the campaigns for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are reportedly planning to enable text-to-give strategies soon. However, it is still unknown what percentage of each mobile donation will go to carriers and aggregators as a fee for providing the text messaging services. For more, see the news story at http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2012/08/28/obama-romney-campaigns-drive-donations-via-text

For Ad Success, Let Your Heart Rule Your Head

For advertising success, marketers may need to go with their hearts not their heads. Orlando Wood, who serves as managing director of BrainJuicer Labs, argues, "We’ve found that emotional response [to an ad] was a better indicator of the business effects than any of the traditional advertising measures, such as message understood, clarity of branding or persuasion." And that translates into higher ROI. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has done work showing that emotional advertising is more profitable than rationally conceived marketing, Wood points out. BrainJuicer Labs' own research shows that consumers who respond well emotionally to ads are more likely to provide brand share gain and less likely to be price sensitive. Positive emotional response also helps ads go viral, with higher pass-along in social media. Lesson? Most people would rather go with their guts than strain their brains. And it's not just a b-to-c success strategy. It can work for b-to-b and nonprofit campaigns. However, cause-related pitches have more leeway to use negative emotions to generate pass-along, Wood adds, a theory likely to be applied this election season. See the chiefmarketer.com story at http://chiefmarketer.com/social-marketing/marketers-should-let-their-emotions-get-better-them