They’re Doing What?

Results from end-of-year giving campaigns are still coming in, but one fundraising trend was clear in 2006: nonprofits’ growing expertise in integrating campaigns across multiple communications channels.

The increasing costs of acquiring new donors through traditional methods, the continuing challenge of donor fatigue and the exponential growth in online donations has spurred many organizations to bring online outreach into the mix.

For many donors, online communications are far more compelling than mass mailings. Links to audio and video files, such as The Humane Society of the United States’ celebrity audio PSAs to support its ProtectSeals Campaign, create a high-touch experience to connect constituents to an organization’s cause. E-mail allows organizations to communicate instantly at critical times — such as immediately after a national disaster, before a vote on the Senate floor or in the critical weeks leading up to elections — to capitalize on the timeliness of a specific appeal.

Integrating offline and online tactics enables organizations to take a holistic approach to building relationships with donors. This year, more organizations will follow the lead of those that not only diversified their tactics in 2006 but also coordinated the timing, content and design of offline and online campaigns for a seamless, integrated experience that drove some impressive results:

■ Equality Ohio’s Turnout Ohio campaign recruited almost 100 new volunteers and raised nearly $17,540 from existing and new members over a seven-month period leading up to the November elections with two direct-mail fundraising letters, phone banks and a series of online communications, doubling its list size from 5,508 in March to 10,078 post-election;

■ Oxfam America’s 2006 Matching Gift Campaign raised more than $250,000 online in four months through a coordinated series of offline and online tactics — including direct-mail and online fundraising appeals — adding more than 200 new subscribers to its e-mail list who contributed more than 13 percent of the total dollars raised; and

■ Human Rights Campaign’s “Defeat the Federal Marriage Amendment” campaign in 2006 raised $286,000 through a coordinated series of offline and online advocacy, communications and fundraising appeals, converting 2,383 activists to donors, who contributed nearly half of the FMA campaign’s total revenue.

Plan, coordinate and maintain brand
While studies show that providing a variety of response channels improves overall response rates, integrating across multiple channels presents numerous challenges, including managing stakeholders; addressing organizational silos; coordinating staff, volunteers and vendors; and matching content and design across online and offline marketing and fundraising communications.

With proper planning, coordination and consistent branding, organizations can beat these challenges. Follow these 10 tips for a successful
integrated campaign:

1. Develop a plan that requires you to calendar all activities.

2. Coordinate with staff, volunteers and vendors. Consider bringing together all your offline and online vendors for regular meetings to discuss upcoming campaigns.

3. Be prepared to seize the moment with a timely, personalized communication such as an action alert followed by a straight fundraising appeal.

4. Tie the content of your offline campaigns to your online communications by being consistent in the overall theme. Integrate your Web site content with your online communications for a more efficient operation that enables staff to create content once and employ it across multiple channels.

5. Provide constituents multiple channels to donate, including directing online donors to information on how to donate offline.

6. Drive direct-mail recipients to your Web site by offering information that is available only online, and provide a trackable URL for online donations. Conversely, drive online donors to offline events.

7. Leverage your brand. Coordinate content and visuals of your Web site, e-cards, direct mail and online ads.

8. Segment your donors and match appropriate offers and creative copy to each defined donor segment.

9. Test various donor segments, strategies and tactics. Analyze response and return on investment, and test again.

10. Thank your donors and keep them informed. If you’ve gotten a pledge from a telemarketing call, offer to send an acknowledgment via e-mail.

A 360-degree view
Too often, organizations maintain several lists in different formats that contain outdated, duplicated information and undeliverable e-mail addresses. By synchronizing online and offline databases, you can leverage information on your supporters and tailor the ask. To get the most out of your data, follow these four tips:

1. Clean your data. Use online tools to identify potential duplicate records. Attach source codes to each record to identify the original source of the data.

2. Give donors opportunities to update their information through personal profile pages. Use an online survey that includes demographic questions. (When someone completes the survey, send him to a landing page with a donation ask.)

3. Regularly exchange data on new constituents, changes and gift information between your online and offline systems by using automated imports and exports or two-way automated solutions.

4. Make data management an ongoing, day-to-day process. Get expert guidance on managing your data, not just the mechanics of getting data into your system.

Tactics and timing
A successful multi-channel campaign increases the need to get the right message to the right person at the right time in a way that builds a relationship. The approach that works well for one organization, however, might not work for another.

Does an e-mail just prior to a direct-mail piece make a measurable difference in conversions? What about an e-mail sent immediately after a direct-mail piece arrives in donors’ mailboxes? Is one segment of your donor base more valuable than another? Is there value in driving direct-mail donors to an online donation form? The only way to know is to test. And re-test. And test again.

HSUS’ affiliate organization, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, analyzed the return on investment of an integrated campaign across six test segments based on recency and name-acquisition characteristics,
combining data to evaluate an e-mail postcard followed by direct mail, direct mail only, e-mail only and direct mail followed by e-mail. The most successful test segment was a direct-mail piece followed by e-mail, which netted 55 percent of the $9,380 in total net revenue. More testing is planned this year with a double pre- and post-e-mail message, and an analysis of the long-term value of donors who are responsive to different channels.

When fundraising results are reported for 2006, the most successful organizations will be those that deployed integrated multi-channel campaigns. To maximize the impact of your donor-engagement and renewal efforts in 2007, look to these organizations as models of best practices.

Sheeraz Haji is CEO of GetActive Software.