Fundraising's New Synergy

Case in point
In fall 2003, the Brady Campaign, a national, non-partisan, grassroots organization working to prevent gun violence, grew its e-mail list from 38,000 addresses to 175,000 addresses via a micro-site that was followed by petition campaigns focusing on urgent federal legislation. A vast majority of these constituents were non-donors. Throughout two legislative battles in 2004, the Brady Campaign sent a series of appeals that included a link to contact Congress, a “tell-a-friend” option and a strong ask for funds that often included examples of specific print or TV ads. Typical responses ranged from 0.19 percent to 0.37 percent, and average gifts ranged from $24 to $46. This compares to typical e-mail acquisition response rates of 0.1 percent. New donors to the Brady Campaign via the Internet grew from 311 in 2002 to 3,244 in 2004. It acquired these new donors at a very positive return on investment, since sending an e-mail appeal doesn’t have marginal costs once the software’s in place.