Strategies Can Bolster Fundraising If the Economy Turns Rocky

Although economic growth and jobs data continue strong at the start of the year, many AccuList® nonprofit clients still express anxiety about the impact on charitable giving of higher inflation or even recession later in 2023. Here's the advice from fundraising veterans: Stay the course and avoid the temptation to cut back on direct mail or digital marketing. When fundraisers reduce the channels and frequency of donor requests, they cut opportunities for giving and erode long-term connections. 

A better way to offset economic drags is to increase the efficiency of donor acquisition and retention programs. For direct mailings, costs can be reduced by tactics such as modified package size and pre-sorting, as well as by greater mailing list efficiency. Using the best-performing vertical lists and modeled data can boost donor prospecting ROI, for example, while house donor lists can select out lower-value or lower-response segments. 

In tougher times, nonprofits also can't afford the waste of bad data. OneCause, a provider of event and online fundraising technology, found that only 18% of nonprofits reported having enough data and insights for cost-effective decision-making in 2022! So fundraisers should prioritize clean data—de-duped, complete, consistent, deliverable and actionable—for cost-effective targeting. 

Fundraisers also can take better advantage of the fact that today's donors are multichannel responders by coordinating direct mail with boosted social media outreach as well as online and mobile giving. In-person fundraising events are expected to make a comeback in 2023, too. OneCause reports 83% of organizations plan to hold at least one in-person event in 2023. Data supports that investment in event and online efforts: Over half of nonprofits surveyed reported generating 21% of operating budget from event and online fundraising in 2022. 

For help with donor acquisition, multichannel fundraising and data management, see https://www.acculist.com/fundraising/

COVID-19 Crisis Alters Fundraising Tactics

As the coronavirus crisis alters the social and economic landscape for nonprofits, fundraising tactics will need to alter, too. In a recent NonProfit PRO post, two Orr Group fundraising agency executives suggest some quick tactical shifts. First of all, don't panic and cancel events, they advise, but reschedule or repurpose. If an event can be postponed, a nonprofit may be able to transfer tickets/table buyers to the future event instead of refunding, and can add touchpoints along the way. Or, the fundraiser can switch to a digital event, perhaps with livestreaming. Indeed, this is an opportunity to go digital in multiple targeted ways, starting with more social media ads, paid search ads and SEO efforts. For example, now is a good time for a digital forum, such as a virtual “fireside-chat” with a subject matter expert discussing COVID-19 impact on the mission. Or the nonprofit can pen an article to post on social media as well as e-mail to donors and prospects. And don't forget nondigital communications, such as direct mail and phone calls. The authors suggest building out a phone-call list of top funders, for example. Michael Wasserman, CEO of the stream fundraising platform Tiltify, uses another NonProfit PRO post to stress how the crisis should push fundraisers to boost social media use. The potential audience is huge: almost 80% of the population uses social media, with Facebook and YouTube having over 2 billion users per platform. Even newer sites like TikTok boast 500 million, Discord gets 250 million, and Twitch attracts 15 million daily visitors. Note that the Facebook Fundraisers tool has already raised over $2 billion. So charities that still use elementary fundraising pages with a simple donate button, some text and an image are missing big opportunities. He urges nonprofits to focus more on enticing content, such as video, which can leverage YouTube, the No. 2 search engine in the world with 2 billion registered users. Nonprofits should also consider livestreaming events for fundraising, he argues, to raise big sums in a few hours, citing the example of a group that raised in a week the amount it costs to run St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for a day, which is about $2.7 million. What about the impact of "social distancing" on traditional face-to-face connections with major donors? Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, president of philanthropic consulting firm Grenzebach, Glier and Associates, offers some tips in a recent piece in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Start by showing you care and reach out quickly to ask how the donor is faring and discuss how the nonprofit is responding. Enlist top executives to communicate plans; e-mail can quickly provide a direct but formal assurance, while social-media platforms offer a more human touch. Ad hoc “investor calls” may be appropriate for smaller donor groups. In messaging, highlight the nonprofit's expertise and how gifts support efforts relevant to the COVID-19 crisis. And don't abandon events; get creative with virtual format substitutes, such as a conference call or webinar. For more detail, see https://www.acculist.com/covid-19-crisis-alters-tactics-for-fundraising-success/

Nonprofits Can Weather Pandemic's Donor Impact

Nonprofit fundraising faces a novel crisis as the novel coronavirus pandemic shuts down business-as-usual across America and threatens recession. Based on fundraising experience in previous crises, such as 9/11 and the 2008 recession, AccuList urges nonprofits not to cut back on fundraising efforts during this critical period. Indeed, since event fundraising is likely to be cancelled or postponed, now may be the time to shift resources into high-response workhorses like direct mail. And for some causes directly impacted by pandemic issues (humanitarian appeals such as food banks, homeless shelters, elder care, emergency health and medical supplies), fundraising messages may be especially resonant and effective now. Yes, philanthropy has trended at 1.5% to 2.5% of GDP annually since 1978, and it’s pretty clear GDP (and thus fundraising) is going to take a hit in 2020. But as a NonProfit Pro magazine article by Craig Depole, president of direct-response fundraising agency Newport ONE, warns, organizations that pulled back and stopped soliciting after 9/11 and the 2008 recession took years to recover from their losses, "while organizations that continued to solicit their donors with messages of need and impact emerged stronger and healthier." Depole’s NonProfitPro article goes on to outline a number of steps to make fundraising outreach more successful during a national crisis: 1) Double-down on stewardship of donors (more thank-you phone calls, impact reporting, staff engagement); 2) Keep talking with donors and share compelling stories, with humanitarian charities especially able to cite the transformational impact of donations; 3) Acknowledge the fears of donors who are watching stock portfolios decline and engage with them as partners rather than ATMs; 4) Review messaging for relevance, clarity and appropriate tone; and 5) Have alternative plans ready to go, say in case your mail shop or creative team is quarantined, or you need to substitute for promotional supplies from China. As a Network for Good blog post by Kimberly O'Donnell stresses, "In uncertain times, one thing is certain with fundraising—the more you plan, the better off you will be. Successful fundraising during a recession is two-pronged: 1) Focus hard on donor engagement and retention, and 2) Use intelligent prospecting techniques to recruit new followers and supporters." A poll of fundraising agencies by The Nonprofit Alliance similarly offers cogent responses to how agencies are preparing nonprofit clients for the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. One respondent advises, "As this unfolds, my advice will likely be the same as to every other major disruption, including 9/11: 1) Acknowledge the crisis and state how the organization is helping solve it; 2) Stay the course, (and) don’t cut back on acquisition and renewal efforts." For more see our website blog post at https://www.acculist.com/how-nonprofit-fundraising-can-weather-pandemic-impacts/

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/

Ticketing, Giving Trends Boost Performing Arts

Heading into 2020, performing arts marketers can take advantage of positive trends in both fundraising and ticketing sales according to recent studies. While the Giving USA 2019 report released in June showed declines for many charitable-giving sectors from 2016 to 2018, arts fundraising stood out by remaining relatively flat. Adjusted for inflation, giving to arts, culture, and humanities increased 11.1% between 2016 and 2017, declined 2.1% between 2017 and 2018 (though a 0.3% increase in current dollars) and ended up with a cumulative increase of 8.7% between 2016 and 2018, thanks to 2017 donations that reached the highest inflation-adjusted amount for the sector on record. Underneath the numbers are three important lessons for our performing arts clients, as fundraising counsel Alexander Haas points out in a recent post. First, a focus on high net-worth individuals via upper-level membership programs, project-related major gifts, and targeted marketing campaigns is likely to pay off, as proven by 2018’s 2.6% increase in gifts of $1,000 or more, and the fact that, of the 90% of high-net worth households giving, a quarter focused on arts donations. Second, targeted campaigns and quality donor lists are essential as fewer individuals give and a greater percentage of philanthropic revenue comes through larger gifts. Finally, online giving can be a boon to performing arts; for example, the Blackbaud Institute’s 2018 Charitable Giving Report showed that online gifts represented 9.5% of overall giving to arts organizations in 2018, and the 5.8% growth in online giving to the arts outpaced other nonprofit sectors by four times. Making online giving a convenient option for donors and members is one way to offset the decline in smaller gifts. Meanwhile, an October Reportlinker market research report forecasts a 5% compound annual growth in ticket sales from sporting events, movies, concerts, and performing arts events in the 2020-2024 period. While sporting event and concert popularity is a key driver of growth, the research also credits a number of innovative marketing strategies for pushing ticket revenue, such as flash sales, early-bird offers, access codes, public discounts and adoption of mobile applications to make tickets more readily available to consumers. For more, see our onsite blog post at https://www.acculist.com/ticketing-and-giving-trends-are-positives-for-performing-arts/

Case Studies Offer Fundraising Mail Tips

As nonprofit fundraisers enter their busiest direct mail season, they may want to check out three case studies from the CharityHowTo blog, showing some basic ways to pump direct mail performance. Donor list segmentation is essential, and delivers dividends even for those starting from scratch. For example, the blog post cites the case of a new executive director at a human services organization that lacked results of historical appeals in terms of targeting and pieces sent. The executive director decided to develop a recency, frequency, monetary (RFM) segmentation and so exported the donor base and began to divide it into sections by last gift date, amount of donation (high to low) and most recent to older. In this case, the executive director broke out donors who had given a gift of $250 or more at some point; these "best" donors were going to receive the same appeal as the others, but the new executive director was also going to include a handwritten personal note with each letter and send the appeal by first-class mail. All other donors were broken out by recency, treating the 0-24 months donors as "active" donors, and then further segmenting for those giving below $100 and those giving $100-$249.99. There was a separate segment of "lapsed" donors defined as donors who hadn’t given in the last 3 to 5 years, and even a deep lapsed segment who hadn’t given in 5 years or more. Then all segments, coded for results tracking, were mailed a personalized letter and personalized reply form. Even though just starting out, results improved in terms of total donations and efficiency, with an overall cost of just $0.04 for every dollar raised (compared with an industry average cost of $0.20 cited by the blog). Plus, the nonprofit now had proven segmentation results for use in further improvement of efficiency and targeted messaging. Increased mail frequency is one way to increase donations, but nonprofits worried about costs and donor fatigue often err on the conservative side when deciding how frequently donors should be mailed. The blog cites the case of a homeless shelters executive director who was initially against mailing more than twice a year, even though they had some 65+ homeless people that they were supporting each day. Because they needed to raise more money, they finally tried adding two more appeals per year. Of course, the added appeals increased costs, but they also increased net revenue by 32%. The cost to raise a dollar with two appeals was $0.12, and with 4 appeals went up to $0.20, yet the overall net dollars after costs rose from $51,227 to $67,590. Finally research shows that donors who gave most recently are also most likely to give again. For doubters, try testing a segment of recent donors (0-3 months or 0-6 months). And of course, you will want to segment out those recent donors who give the largest amounts and offer special treatment, such as an appeal with a personal note of thanks for their gift and an indication that you’re just sending the latest appeal for their information only (even though of course you’re going to include a reply envelope). However, the case study of an environmental organization shows why hesitancy to re-mail a donor too soon is often misguided. The organization typically mails about 5 times a year; once someone reaches the $1,000 level, they go into a personal note stream. Results show that while the 7-month-to-one-year donors deliver the most net revenue and average gift, the next best performing segment is the recent 0-to-3-month donors in terms of net revenue and average gift! For a link to more details and charts, go to our website blog post at https://www.acculist.com/case-studies-show-how-nonprofits-can-improve-donor-mail-results/

Museum Industry Trends Buoy Marketing Efforts

Museum marketers can take heart from a number of trends that are boosting their appeals to visitors and donors, according to a recent report on the museum industry from ticketing solutions provider Acme Technologies. Demographics favor museum marketers, for example. The baby-boomer generation, the most populous generation still living today, is made up of the most loyal frequenters of museums and galleries among generations, while data shows the tech-savvy millennial generation, which demands interactivity, is being wooed by modern museums' innovative tech and design. Museum appeals are even benefiting from our contentious politics as conflicting media, heated partisanship, and rapid social change drive the public to seek out museums as safeguards of knowledge, culture, and history. Finally, technology trends are transforming museums into efficient institutions using novel and interactive solutions to improve visitor experiences, with digital systems integration, VR, and greater disabled accessibility for example. The Acme report notes a number of tactics that will help museum marketers leverage those trends. For one, galleries, zoos and other foundations can integrate traditional displays with innovative tools that allow audiences to experience collections in new ways. For example, the Netherlands' Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is using Virtual Reality to provide a unique view of the famous painter’s works, while the Cleveland Museum offers a digital map that visitors can access via their smartphones to navigate exhibits. Social media is another boon for savvy marketers, such as making Instagrammable selfies intentional features in museum tours. An example is a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's interactive hit with an artwork that encourages visitors to snap a selfie with their head in a freezer, and tag the museum in the resulting Instagram post. Finally, data analytics offer insight into museum-goer trends for strategies that widen audiences and increase donations. The report cites the example of The Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Spain, which hired data analytics provider Synergic Partners to analyze tourist visitation trends for a special Picasso exhibit. Information gathered showed the most common nationalities of visitors, and allowed the museum to better cater to them. For more marketing ideas, see our website blog post at https://www.acculist.com/positive-industry-trends-buoy-museum-marketing/

Brain Science, Industry Data Boost Mail Fundraising

As digital channels expand donor influence, some nonprofit marketers may wonder about direct mail's role as a fundraising workhorse. Both neuroscience and marketing data underscore why it's essential to keep mail in harness. Technology may be changing rapidly, but the human brain hasn’t changed in about 500,000+ years, and mail marketers have a brain advantage, notes a recent NonProfit PRO article by Christopher Foster, vice president of business development at Modern Postcard. Neuroscience has found direct mail taps two basic parts of the brain: the cerebral cortex and the amygdala-hippocampus pairing. The cerebral cortex is where we process information and weigh the pros and cons of decisions. Unlike truncated digital messaging, direct mail can engage this part of the brain by describing benefits and citing objective reasons for donor dollars. Plus, research consistently shows people trust print/direct mail information more than digital info. Of course, recall and emotion are key drivers, and the amygdala and hippocampus, combining long-term memory with emotional response, favor direct mail over digital, too. In fact, research shows direct mail is 35% stronger than social media and 49% stronger than e-mail when it comes to long-term memory encoding, and 33% stronger than e-mail and social media in engagement. Next consider recent marketing data. The Data & Marketing Association (DMA) 2018 direct mail response rates were 9% for a house list and 5% for a prospect list, way higher than any other channels (such as e-mail, social media and paid search at 1%). As a result, mail's median ROI is also higher than most digital channels. Direct mail, of course, works even better integrated into an omnichannel campaign, where it actually spurs digital results; for example, studies show donors are three times more likely to give online in response to a direct mail appeal than to an e-appeal. Plus, direct mail drives donor retention; 70% of donors have restarted a relationship because of direct mail, per DMA data. And direct mail is efficient at retention; the Association of Fundraising Professionals reports direct mail costs $0.25 for every $1 from recurring donors. However, direct mail's fundraising success is certainly not a given. Another NonProfit PRO article by Jen Linck, chief marketing officer for Corporate Giving Connection, cites some basic strategies: list segmentation and targeting to avoid sending costly mail to bad leads; creative that captures attention and spurs opens, such as dimensional mail or large-sized envelopes; and the inclusion of added value, say via special offers or promotional gifts. Finally, since direct mail works best when it is integrated into an omnichannel campaign, incorporate digital technology with QR codes, short links or text keywords for use across channels. Plus, link donors to a branded, campaign-specific landing page, since 38% more donations happen with branded, campaign-specific landing pages. For more, see our blog post at https://www.acculist.com/brain-science-industry-data-bolster-direct-mail-fundraising/

Nonprofits Upbeat on 2019 Fundraising Growth

The most recent survey of nonprofits and donors by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC), a coalition of professional fundraising associations, finds that 60% of respondents expect to raise more money this year than they did in 2018! That’s encouraging news for fundraisers as they head into their key year-end giving campaigns. Many fundraisers feared the new tax law would undercut giving, but the survey found that only a 17% minority reported a negative impact from tax changes, and only 16% of donors said they would change the amount or method of their gift this year because of tax changes. It is true that since nonprofits rely heavily on year-end giving, certain continuing tax trends prove challenging, such as bundling or bunching, in which donors provide multiyear support but give a large donation in just one tax year and then skip contributions in the following year or years. Still, only 30% of nonprofit respondents reported that some donors were bundling. Based on various reports of reduced giving, many nonprofits also were concerned about fundraising growth, yet the NRC online survey of individual donors in March of this year found 56% said they gave the same amount in 2018 as in 2017, 33% gave more, and only 11% gave less. As a result, 63% of fundraisers said their charities did raise more money in 2018 than the previous year. Overall, 73% said they met their 2018 fundraising goals. It’s no wonder most fundraisers (60%) are confident they will raiser even more in 2019. Not all charities participated equally in 2018 growth, of course. Charities with budgets of $3 million to $49 million reported the most fundraising increases in 2018 over 2017 levels. And environmental and animal charities in particular were most likely to meet 2018 fundraising goals. Melissa Brown, author of the report and manager of the NRC, stresses that the upbeat forecast for fundraising needs to be undergirded by targeted, relevant, engaging direct mail and e-mail contacts. Overall, the survey supports both the need for a multi-channel fundraising strategy of frequent contacts. On average, after the first gift, organizations send about 3 more appeals by mail, an average of 4 appeals by e-mail, and invitations to events, including stewardship/recognition activities. For a link to the full survey, see our website blog post at https://www.acculist.com/most-nonprofits-upbeat-on-2019-fundraising-growth/

Facebook Aids and Challenges Fundraisers

Online giving has seen tremendous growth, but the latest M+R Benchmarks report shows a distinct slowdown, with online fundraisers reporting just 1% growth in 2018. M+R cites multiple trends underlying the lower growth—from declining e-mail response, to more low-dollar mobile traffic, to falling online donor retention. But the report starts by noting how rising Facebook usage has both undercut revenue measures and signaled potential for future growth. While changes to the Facebook algorithm resulted in, on average, only 7% of followers seeing any given post, use of Facebook Fundraisers' peer-to-peer giving really took hold for the first time in 2018. However, because of the way the donations are processed, the Facebook Fundraiser dollars were not included in M+R online revenue calculations. It's an important missing piece: The Facebook Fundraiser tool for hosted fundraising now accounts for about 99% of all nonprofit revenue processed on Facebook, with nonprofits raising $1.77 through Facebook for every $100 raised through other online channels, per M+R. The impact is big for some sectors. For example, health nonprofits received $29.88 from Facebook for every $100 in direct online revenue in 2018, accounting for about 30% as much revenue as every other source of online revenue, including e-mail, web giving, monthly donors, digital ads, and search. To turn the new Facebook Fundraiser use into a bigger boon, notes the M+R report, nonprofits need to get more individuals (the average now is 56) involved in hosting fundraisers and in attracting both more donors and higher-dollar donors (now the average per hosted fundraiser is seven donors and a modest $31 gift per donor). Another recent study pointed to a deeper issue with nonprofit Facebook efforts. The 2019 Digital Outlook Report—from care2, hjc and nten—found that nonprofits surveyed reported spending anywhere from $0 to $100,000 on Facebook and Instagram campaigns. But the majority (over 75%) answered "don't know" when asked about any resulting revenue! Clearly, the report urges, staff need training in tracking analytics and calculating not only resulting donations but the value of lead generation, e-mail signups, event attendance, etc. CauseMic recently offered some helpful tips for Facebook fundraising. In using Facebook Fundraiser, in order to benefit from site traffic and donor information as well as dollars, start by disabling the “donate” button and direct supporters to donate on your website rather than through Facebook. Donors will learn more about the mission and fundraisers can stay connected with them for better retention. Second, nonprofits shouldn't focus only on hosted fundraisers; they can use promoted posts and ads to grow the support base, interact with supporters, promote events, etc. When a breaking news story or emergency occurs that impacts giving, social media outreach can spread the word and raise money more quickly. Just make sure to use tracking analytics to avoid ROI ignorance! Remember that Facebook offers a proven response driver: video. Post videos about donation impact, host live videos or publicize upcoming events. Finally, pay attention to timing; M+R found that nearly a quarter of all Facebook revenue is raised in November. For a link to more M+R data, go to https://www.acculist.com/facebook-both-boosts-and-challenges-fundraising-efforts/

Use Tech and Data Trends to Spur Fundraising

Innovations in data analytics and technology offer some potential boosts for 2019 nonprofit fundraising. Consider trends highlighted in this spring's Nonprofit Technology Conference in Oregon. For example, nonprofit tech pros reported success using Digital Wallets, such as Apple Pay, Paypal and Google Pay, to make donating easier for donors and to increase conversions. AI and chatbots are another boon cited by tech experts, not just because they free up staff from time-consuming interfaces but because they can be used to segment audiences and tailor communications to boost donor acquisition, value and retention. Meanwhile mobile text messaging and mobile giving not only continue to grow in use, but nonprofits are learning to leverage SMS to trigger response, scale donor relationships, and engage and motivate communities more fully. Online giving continues its growth path, but there are now more online giving services and their offerings are expanding. For example, Give Lively has free online fundraising tools for text-to-give, peer-to-peer, events, and integration with social media platforms such as Facebook. Finally, virtual-assistant voice services have entered the fundraising arena; for example, Amazon's Alexa now can help donors verbally contribute up to $10,000. But for tech innovations to be effective, quality data and data analytics for targeting are essential. Data can combine with real-time marketing automation, triggered e-mail series and variable data printing of personalized direct mail for improved donor acquisition and retention. And nonprofits don't need to vacuum up every bit of big data for better results. The key is to collect and track the information in the donor database, or to select the key response factors to target in prospect lists, most likely to lead to success. Beyond the basics of name, address/contact, gender, age and date and amount of last donation, data targeting can be enhanced with parameters indicating donor capacity (the ability to give) and donor affinity (the willingness to give), as a recent Philantopic blog post advises. Indicators of donor capacity include personal income/wealth measures, real estate ownership, business title, stock ownership, etc., while donor affinity parameters include the RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) of the donor or prospect giving history, past relationship/interest in a specific cause or affiliated appeal, and political affiliation and giving. Of course, a good database policy also includes regular hygiene and updating, and an ongoing check for knowledge/data gaps. For questions to ask to avoid costly data knowledge complacency, see our website blog post at https://www.acculist.com/tech-data-trends-spur-2019-fundraising-opportunities/

E-mail, Social Lead Nonprofit Event Marketing

AccuList’s direct marketing services support both event marketers and nonprofit marketers, and, of course, there’s an overlap since many nonprofits use events for fundraising. In that arena, a recent survey of 500 nonprofits by Eventbrite, a leading event management and ticketing services provider, offers some interesting benchmarks. The "2019 Eventbrite Pulse Report" found that nonprofits use multiple event formats besides those geared exclusively to fundraising; in fact, just 32% reported hosting galas and fundraisers aimed at tapping donors. Instead, events for cause, community and educational promotion were cited by 78%, as well as networking events, training and workshops, food and drink events, and arts and entertainment events. Of course, revenue production was still seen as key to success regardless of event goal. And when it comes to event revenue, ticket sales, sponsorships and grants/donations were the top sources reported. However, while ticket sales were seen as a key revenue driver by most (75%), the portion of revenue delivered by ticketing varied widely—from 80%-100% of event revenue for just 15% to less than 20% of revenue for a larger quarter of those surveyed. This underscores the need for both diverse revenue sources and more effective marketing to deliver attendance. On that point, nonprofit event organizers said their most effective marketing tactics were e-mail (34%); word-of-mouth and referrals (24%); and social media marketing (22%). In social media, nonprofits relied most on organic posts (23%), paid Facebook ads, and video (9%). Among the tactics deemed less effective in the survey were third-party listings, search engine optimization (SEO), and display ads. Looking at the year ahead, the top 2019 challenge, cited by 73%, was reaching new attendees. And that is the kind of targeted marketing issue AccuList can help address! For more from the survey, see https://www.acculistusa.com/e-mail-social-lead-nonprofit-event-marketing/

Arts Fundraising Study: Invest to Reap More

Any of AccuList’s performing arts marketing and museum/zoo marketing clients that fret over investing in fundraising efforts in 2019 should take a look at the recently released "DataArts Fundraising Report" from Southern Methodist University. Basically, the report concludes, arts and cultural organizations that make smart investments in fundraising reap more dollars, with individual donors a “vital source” of contributions. Looking at fundraising by 2,421 organizations across 11 different arts and cultural sectors between 2014 and 2017, the study found good news for many marketers even though the overall ROI on every dollar spent on fundraising declined from $8.80 in 2014 to $8.56 in 2017. This reflected issues in select sectors. Seven sectors—including performing arts companies, orchestras and operas—actually saw an increase in return on fundraising over the period. The biggest ROI gain, adjusting for inflation, was a 28.8% bump for community-based organizations. But gaining sectors were offset by ROI declines for art museums, dance companies and theaters. Another encouraging sign was an increase in the average individual donor contribution over the four-year period. For arts and cultural fundraising, size matters, but in an inverse fashion, the report found. Small- and medium-sized organizations increased the returns on their investments in fundraising over the four years, while larger organizations had steadily declining ROI. Individual donors are important for success, per the report, especially outside of the big metro areas where government support, foundations and corporate donors help foot expenses. But locations vary widely in terms of revenue successfully tapped. For example, New York organizations had the highest average number of corporate donors at 12 and also had the highest percentage of expenses covered by government support (9%). On the other hand, Chicago reaped the most from foundations, with 7% of expenses picked up by foundation support. For more report detail, go to https://www.acculistusa.com/arts-fundraising-study-invest-to-reap-more/

Fundraising Challenged by Gen Z, E-mail, AI

For nonprofit fundraising, 2019 will be another challenging year. Successful direct marketers will need to adapt to changes in demographics, technology and donor targeting, to name just a few trends recently cited by the Donorbox Nonprofit Blog. For example, Donorbox is sounding the alert ahead of the next demographic wave. While the Millennial generation is still the biggest cohort in the workforce, Gen Z is arriving. Born after 1996, they now make up an estimated 27% of the population and will account for 40% of all consumers by 2020. How are they different? The "2017 Global Trends in Giving Report" found that Gen Z members are interested in giving to many different causes, especially those involving youth, animals and human services. But to win the attention of these digital natives, messaging must be concise and engaging, offering an immediate experience that cuts through the marketing noise they routinely filter out. Gen Z is also the first mobile-only generation, so website, e-mail and donation forms must all be optimized for mobile. Meanwhile, remember that today's donors expect a personalized, targeted approach that takes into account demographics, giving history, etc. That means segmenting donor and prospect lists for specialized messaging to account for generational differences and other demographics. It means tailoring the "ask" to the prospective donor's income and giving history. It means refining giving/donation pages to highlight projects and wording that will resonate with the target donor group. E-mail is a channel that can be easily personalized, and despite its recent bad rap, a revisit of e-mail strategy is worthwhile. Research shows that donors willing to donate through e-mail rose from just 6% in 2012 to 28% in 2018. Second, low-cost e-mail has an ROI of 122%, much higher than direct mail, social media and paid search. Finally, fundraisers need to make more use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), perhaps by creating a chatbot to interact via messaging services like Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, etc. to handle donations, register members and distribute information about programs and services. AI also can personalize donor journeys based on real-time behavior to encourage contributions and can weaponize data for more cost-effective donor development. For example, a donor's giving and volunteering history, event attendance, affiliations, relationships, and data from wealth screening tools can all be analyzed to predict a potential donor’s likelihood to give a major gift. For more, see our website blog at https://www.acculistusa.com/fundraising-challenges-include-gen-z-e-mail-ai/

Are Your Fundraising Plans Ready for 2019 Trends?

Nonprofit marketers making final tweaks to fundraising plans for 2019 may want to do a quick survey of this year’s top trends as identified by fundraising pros to make sure they are ready for all challenges. NonProfit PRO magazine cites three general 2019 trends that will affect both traditional direct mail and digital fundraising via e-mail, mobile, social media and website. First, nonprofits should include a commitment to story-telling in this year’s fundraising communications, the magazine says. Stories create an emotional connection to the mission and are remembered better than facts, studies show. NonProfit PRO urges creation of a story-telling culture via leadership buy-in, a mechanism to regularly encourage and gather stories, a story-banking method and regular and consistent story communications. “Personalization” is another marketing mantra for 2019, with success requiring clean up-to-date data and list segmentation to craft targeted messages for direct mail and e-mail. Finally, put that targeted story-telling into a video format to maximize results in a year when video is projected to represent 80% of Internet traffic. Meanwhile, the Nonprofit Tech for Good blog identifies some key digital trends to include in 2019 fundraising plans: 1) increased use of marketing automation software to create personalized appeals and individualized pathways and engagement with the general mission and specific programs; 2) more focus on a recurring-gift donor base and commitment to engagement strategies and technologies that nurture donors; 3) more relevant, personalized, contextual messaging based on data technologies; and 4) more disruption by commercial social media players like Facebook via removal of fundraising fees, matching funds and direct access to donor data and AI. The TrueSense Marketing blog came up with a whopping "21 Fundraising Trends and Best Practices You Need to Know in 2019" from a survey of fundraising pros. We’ll only cite a couple here, starting with a prediction that the visually oriented Instagram, which hit 1 billion monthly active users in 2018, including the 50-64 and 65+ age cohorts, will become a more popular platform for nonprofits in 2019. Another prediction is that, with data breaches continuing to grab headlines and a patchwork of data privacy regulations at the state level (such as California Consumer Privacy Act passed last summer), nonprofits will face added costs and changes in data collection and storage policies this year. For more, see our full on-site blog post at http://www.acculistusa.com/is-your-fundraising-plan-ready-for-2019-challenges/

Honoring Channel Preference Wins Donors

Donor control of communications channels is important for efficient fundraising contends DonorVoice's The Agitator in a recent blog post. Fundraisers fret over opt-out rates in their efforts to grow donor files. Yet failing to learn and honor channel preference not only leads to higher opt-out rates but to wasteful marketing as well, notes the post. People who opt out of telemarketing or e-mail channels are unlikely to give through that channel, so the resulting file reduction is actually a savings, cutting spending that annoys rather than produces. Plus sending e-mails to people who routinely don't open them lowers overall e-mail deliverability, reducing e-mails that might get through to those who do want them, for another real but hidden cost. Giving channel control to donors can produce more quality file growth. DonorVoice has done two different tests of what causes people to opt in, and both show that donor communications control is the single biggest factor in whether someone will want to learn more from a nonprofit. Plus, another recent study by DonorVoice and the DMA Nonprofit Federation found that allowing donors control of their communications makes them more likely to donate, and that donors who provide and receive a communications preference tend to be more valuable donors. For example, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare coded people who requested less mail and sent them half as many appeals as those who stated no preference. Those donors who requested and received half as many contacts actually gave more than the group that didn’t express a preference, per the DonorVoice article. Catholic Relief Services also found that donors who requested a specific mail preference gave 6 to 8 times more per year, notes the same blog post. Despite the growth of online giving, channel preferences continue to favor direct mail. In fact, 73% of consumers say they prefer mail for brand communications, and that includes nonprofits, and 62% like checking the mail, per Epsilon research. Plus, direct mail donors have higher retention rates; 31% of first-time offline donors are retained compared with 25% of new online donors, according to Blackbaud. For more, see our blog post at http://www.acculistusa.com/honoring-channel-preference-delivers-fundraising-wins/

Pet Charity Mailer Opens Hearts & Wallets

AccuList USA has a long and successful history with mailing lists and data services targeting "pet parents" and organizations offering pet-related products, services and causes. One of the surefire ways to engage an audience is to use adorable animal pictures combined with copy crafted to open hearts--and wallets. Here's a recent example of direct mail to inspire our pet marketing clients, courtesy of a post by Target Marketing magazine. Best Friends, which runs the largest no-kill U.S. animal sanctuary across multiple locations, was seeking donations for its mission of ending pet homelessness. The outer envelope of their newsletter package immediately grabs attention with a picture of one of the nonprofit's doggie stars. The heart-tugging gaze is hard to ignore, especially coupled with an intriguing teaser: "Hey, whatever happened to Justin? Find out inside!" When recipients open the envelope, they find a newsletter showcasing the sad story of a pup who had a rough start, including a photo to tug at donor heartstrings. And once emotions are triggered, the format makes it easy to act by putting a donation reply form and call-to-action right at the top of the letter. If prospective donors still hesitate, the Best Friends' copy offers data on the importance and urgency of action by providing examples of the impact that specific dollar-amount donations will have. The copy also educates recipients on the organization's mission, vision and history so they connect with the larger cause. Since a picture, especially one of a winsome pup, is worth a thousand words, go to our on-site blog post for a link to the article about the mailer.

Direct Mail Still Powers Nonprofit Fundraising

Interest in direct mailing lists and services from AccuList USA's nonprofit clients remains strong despite the growing share of donor dollars collected via online giving. Some of the reasons that fundraising pros stay committed to mail power are cited in a recent article for The NonProfit Times by Mark Hrywna. Despite the growing share of donations attributed to online giving, Steve MacLaughlin, vice president of data and analytics at fundraising tech firm Blackbaud, stresses that online giving is still less than 10% of all charitable giving. Fundraisers need to avoid confusing the channel of engagement with the channel of transaction, he advises. Direct mail response certainly is no longer limited to mailed donations as many direct mail recipients go online to give; similarly, a mobile-device outreach or e-mail appeal can generate offline gifts. Even in an increasingly digital world, a good multi-channel mix will include direct mail. Hrywna cites Make-a-Wish Foundation as an example of that continued direct mail investment. When Chief Financial Officer Paul Mehlhorn started with Make-A-Wish Foundation in 2009, he recalls that he was told direct mail was a dinosaur that would be gone in five or six years. Yet last year the national office exceeded 2009 direct mail revenue by several million dollars, going from $13.9 million to $15.3 million. "It looks to me like a program that can stay very strong for the next 10 to 15 years," Mehlhorn asserts to Hrywna. In fact, Mehlhorn says he may expand on his direct mail investment: "As you get past the low-hanging fruit, [online] becomes almost as costly as direct mail. Unless you enlarge your donor pool, you’re going to be spending about the same." Plus, there are some areas where direct mail retains an edge, such as planned giving. Make-A-Wish Foundation has seen revenue from planned gifts just about triple during the past four years, growing from about $2 million to $6 million, and Mehlhorn credits part of that success to actively promoting planned giving in direct mail as well as online campaigns. “A lot of the folks now making end-of-life plans are still in that generation that likes getting mail,” he points out. See the full blog post at http://www.acculistusa.com/direct-mail-still-powers-fundraising-especially-planned-giving/

How Year-end Fundraising Gets Multi-Channel Boost

Even though nonprofits are deep into year-end donation drives, it's worth checking off fundraising benchmarks to give those final tweaks and finishes before New Year's. MobileCause, a fundraising software and strategy firm, has developed a handy infographic based on marketing research and insights gleaned from its webinar attendees. A key takeaway is that branded, multi-channel campaigns raise both more immediate dollars and have more long-term value, with 61% of donors more likely to give again. The infographic cites Japs-Olson Company data to prove the point: Response rates are 6% for direct mail only, 27% for direct mail and web, 27% for direct mail and e-mail, and 37% for the combination of direct mail, web and e-mail. While direct mail remains the centerpiece of donation drives, with 71% to 81% of donations from mail, greater success requires combining and coordinating channels. It is also essential to make multiple appeals across channels, since research shows that it takes a minimum of three exposures to a message to generate a decision. MobileCause suggests the following tactics for maximum impact: a warm-up letter, an appeal letter, a follow-up letter, and e-mails every two weeks, all supported by website home page articles, customized donation form and personal communication (such as phone calls). Don't neglect to craft social media ads, too. Plus, plan to use video to drive engagement and response across channels--on social pages, e-mail, and website (Augmented Reality can even add video to paper mail, too). You'll be in sync with MobileCause attendees: 61% plan to add video to campaigns, 23% plan a custom donation page, and 21% plan an online landing page. By December, fundraisers should be reaping the results of efforts that launched in October, when website, donation page and videos were readied and the first year-end appeal mailed. But now that we're in December, there's still time for the extra push. Consider a Dec. 26 year-end e-appeal and a Dec. 31 last chance e-appeal, for example. For more data and tips, see http://www.acculistusa.com/year-end-fundraising-needs-multi-channel-multi-touch-effort/

Boost Fundraising E-mail Results With Smart Timing

At the end of each year, nonprofits send out their big fundraising e-mail campaigns, and each year questions of optimal timing are debated. Research results from Next After, a nonprofit consultancy and research lab, may offer helpful guidance. A big problem for year-end donor appeals is the fight for attention amid the seasonal commercial e-mail blitz that jams inboxes. Timing is everything to avoid getting lost in the clutter. Many nonprofits focus on the Giving Tuesday opportunity, and 23% more e-mails are sent on Giving Tuesday than on Dec. 31, per Next After--yet 48.7% of nonprofit revenue comes in the last week of the year, Dec. 25-31. And 20% comes just on New Year's Eve. In fact, 581% more average additional revenue is generated on Dec. 31 than on Giving Tuesday. No wonder Next After suggests focusing on that final December week. Another sign of a missed opportunity: Despite December's donor haul, 22% of nonprofits studied send no e-mails in December, and most send about four e-mails. So experts advise dialing up the volume in the lucrative December time period! Day-of-the-week and time-of-day targeting matter, too. E-mailers who choose to send messages in the Tuesday through Friday period and blast between 7 a.m. and noon will wade through the heaviest e-mail volumes, per the research. So off-peak e-mail delivery--such as afternoon or evening--can help avoid the seasonal e-mail rush. And weekends clearly represent a neglected opportunity: Not only is overall e-mail volume lighter, but Next After notes a 50% higher gift amount on weekends. For more data and examples of real-life nonprofit testing, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/optimize-timing-of-year-end-fundraising-e-mails/