Fundraising's New Synergy

Fundraisers must begin to assess channels in aggregate and drive coordinated multi-channel donor development, solicitation and retention strategies. It’s important to measure the integrated effect not only in the context of a single campaign, such as an acquisition or renewal effort, but also to assess the factors that influence donor lifetime value. It’s
critical to understand how to best leverage each channel’s strengths and optimize their coordination.

For example, online marketing can be an extremely cost-effective way to build an engaged prospect list and subsequently to sustain engagement. E-mail also can be a very effective solicitation channel when you need to create a sense of urgency, and it has a strong ROI because of its cost efficiency. But on average, e-mail solicitation yields much lower response rates than direct-mail appeals and telemarketing. So, when it comes to online marketing, you can increase solicitation effectiveness by taking a multi-channel, coordinated approach, which yields both higher response rates and faster, less costly response.