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/

Nonprofits Enter Year-end Fundraising Season

With a third of annual giving occurring in December, over half of nonprofits starting year-end plans in October, and direct mail the leading fundraising channel, October often sees final tweaks to direct marketing plans. So nonprofit marketers may want to check their current campaigns against the four-step master plan recently offered by fundraising consultant Gail Perry on her blog. Step 1: Set goals for each donor segment, and don't forget lucrative leading-donor annual gifts, lapsed donors and board members. Step 2: Select channels for a multi-pronged appeal, integrating direct mail, e-mail, telemarketing, social media, website, and video creative--and design a consistent message for all. Step 3: Gather resources and set a budget. Step 4: Set a timeline and calendar. Of course, smaller fundraisers often bemoan budget limitations at this point. A guest post by Damian O'Broin for the Institute of Fundraising offers a bracing response. Greatness is not a function of size, it’s a function of attitude, he argues, citing donor surveys. The things that matter most to donors don’t depend on big budgets and lots of staff but on good, donor-centric fundraising practices: thanking promptly and properly; showing progress and impact; getting to know supporters and responding to their needs; empowering supporters; and asking consistently. Even modest direct marketing campaigns, assuming they are well targeted, can use these practices to boost response. For details and tips of Perry's year-end master plan, see our complete blog post at http://www.acculistusa.com/nonprofits-crucial-year-end-fundraising-drives-have-begun/

Study Shows Outbound Marketing's Continuing Power

Outbound marketing is still a potent lead generator despite today's focus on inbound strategies like social media and SEO. A recent MarketingProfs article highlighted a new survey by DiscoverOrg of 1,000 IT executives at a variety of firms, from Fortune-ranked companies to small and medium-sized businesses. The results may surprise: 60% of the top IT executives said outbound calls or e-mails have led to an IT vendor being evaluated, and 75% said they decided to attend an event or take an appointment after receiving a cold call or e-mail. The article goes on to provide advice on outbound campaigning, including basics such as scripts, incentive offers, and call-to-action landing pages. Outbound touches are inherently personal, so campaigns can rev the impact with pitch personalization, using targeted lists and social media research to turn up personal details. Of course, timing is everything, so cold calls should be placed when they will garner attention without annoying: Morning calls between 8 AM and 9 AM catch folks before they get caught up in the work of the day, while 4 PM to 5 PM calls present your case as the workday is winding down. And don't forget to invest in tracking and database management to measure results for both outbound and inbound efforts! For more, see the article at http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2013/11994/outbound-marketing-strategies-are-still-effective

Marketers Wrestle Robocall, Texting Consent Rules

Telemarketers opened a troublesome gift from regulators going into the holiday season. Marketers using prerecorded or auto-dialed calls, as well as mobile texts, to reach consumers now must meet the Federal Communications Commission's stricter consent rules. Updating of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which went into effect Oct. 16, requires marketers to get prior written consent from consumers before delivering auto-dialed or prerecorded calls, or mobile texts. Unfortunately, this means that many companies' current opt-in databases do not comply with the new consent rules. Companies also can't claim an exemption due to a prior business relationship with a consumer, as they could in the past. In the consent agreement, companies must ask consumers to agree to receive automated or prerecorded messages and must make clear that a purchase is not a condition of the agreement. This creates a wording quandary for companies delivering a coupon or announcing a sweepstakes since no purchase is involved. It is also unclear whether a company can seek written agreement by asking a consumer to text back using a short code to receive a confirmation message that will ask for a "yes" reply to consent language. In a comment to Adweek magazine, Marc Roth, a partner in the advertising, marketing and media practice of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, concluded that the courts will likely end up deciding how much latitude companies have in seeking consumer consent: "No one is concerned about the FCC, because they do little enforcement. The big fear is class actions. It's going to be the courts that decide what is necessary and what is not in terms of consent." For more discussion in the Adweek article, see http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/are-marketers-ready-new-telemarketing-rules-153079

Postcard Plus Follow-up Call Ups Contractor Leads

A monthly program of lead generation postcards combined with phone follow-up resulted in a 7% response rate for Green Tree Construction, a Little Neck, NY-based home-construction contractor. Green Tree is sending about 20,000 postcards each month to homeowners in the Brooklyn and Bronx boroughs of New York City, as well as Nassau County. The four-color cards promote services such as installing windows, remodeling kitchens and other services. Recipients are invited to call a toll-free number or go to the firm's website to arrange for an estimate. Before starting postcard promotion four years ago, the firm relied almost exclusively on telemarketing. For details, see the chiefmarketer.com story at http://chiefmarketer.com/postcards/postcards-and-phone-follow-boost-response-contractor.

Study: Customers Prefer Direct Mail to Phone, E-mail

A recent research article in the Journal of Marketing reports that customers accept about twice as much direct mail, compared with phone calls and e-mail, before their spending levels start to drop. The study of multichannel marketing was based on contacts between a large auto dealership and its customers. The researchers hypothesized that customers view physical mail "as less intrusive than telephone calls or e-mails." For details, see http://newsroom.ucr.edu/2680

Digital Beats Dialing When It Comes to Leads

Looking for the best way to generate leads? Put down that phone because cold calling is the least effective method, according to lead-generation pros surveyed by Advertise.com, a search and display ad company. Paid search (pay per click) campaigns were rated as most effective in capturing leads.

Too Many 'Touches' Can Chase Customers Away

Per a recent study by a UC-Riverside marketing prof, bombarding customers with e-mails, phone calls and mailers risks driving them away. Traditional snail mail remained the most effective contact medium since customers were less annoyed by it than excess e-mails and calls. For a comparison of online and offline effectiveness, see my article http://www.acculistusa.com/about_us_news_archives.php?showArticle=20