DMW Worldwide

April 25, 2006 By Erica Waasdorp Monthly giving typically occurs in one of the following ways: 1) Through the donor's bank account (Electronic Funds Transfer or EFT) automatically and long-term. The donor needs to take action to cancel it. 2) Through the donor's credit card account. This is automatic, but renewal when the credit card expires is advisable. This is the ideal moment to upgrade and usually garners higher average gifts. 3) Through regular statements sent to the donor. This is the least advisable, and most responsive. Often a starting point for conversion to type 1 or 2 above.

I ’ve had the privilege of working for international fundraisers for the past few years. And that’s given me the advantage of seeing great ideas born and developed around the globe.

Until then, my view of new techniques was limited to thinking that fundraising, particularly direct-response fundraising, pretty much was an American institution.

Life as a PBS station is a tough gig. Providing much-needed programming related to news, history, the arts and education made possible by hard-won donor support, public broadcasting easily can be taken for granted amid the mass of television channels available today.

This column has always been true to its name, giving you a view from the trenches of technical topics ranging from merge-purge techniques to lettershop relationships. It’s the kind of stuff only direct-response geeks like us could love.

This month, I’m shifting gears and writing the column I always wanted to write.

For those of us who manage prospecting campaigns, there is a span of a month or two between ordering lists and dropping the direct-mail appeals in the mail stream. Usually that time is spent putting the finishing touches on the creative packages and getting the materials ready to go.

But while we fuss over the creative, something else is happening that’s every bit as important to the campaign. Down in the data crypt, thousands, and perhaps millions, of names from many sources are brought together for a complex process called a merge/purge.

We learn more when we listen than when we talk. Sounds simple, and it’s the basic tenet of donor relationships today. In fundraising, we agonize over the wording of “the ask,” make sure we’re selecting the right people to solicit. We want to be sure event donors aren’t invited to the gala at the same time the fall appeal is to hit mailboxes. How do we motivate a donor to give to a cause/program that’s so very dear to the “XYZ Foundation?” How can we communicate the need - the urgency? All important issues. But not the most important. What’s left?

President John F. Kennedy gave NASA a decade to get to the moon. My kids give Santa a year to come through with presents. But I wonder if the rocket scientists and St. Nick have the same “under-the-gun” feeling that many direct mail fundraisers have when preparing the next big campaign.

Both experienced and newbie fundraisers alike know that successful campaigns require an investment of financial resources and time. We’ve dealt with the financial issues, now let’s deal with time — the one resource of which we all have the same amount to spend.

The first time I set foot in a lettershop, I was in awe of all those big machines that take huge volumes of paper material and somehow create direct mail. As I stumbled around pallets and forklifts, my guide was busy giving me a lesson on cut-sheet versus continuous-form laser technology. When we finally exited the cavernous room to the relative quiet of the foyer, I thought I had just gotten off a wild carnival ride.

There are many ways to measure the performance of a donor program. Gross and net revenue, the number of active donors and their corresponding lifetime values all are critical. But the rise of donor attrition is one insidious statistic that, if ignored, will rob a new donor program of needed growth and put a mature program on a plateau.

If Sir Isaac Newton had been a fundraiser, his first law might have read: “A donor at rest tends to stay at rest, and a donor who contributes regularly tends to keep contributing.”

But most nonprofit organizations defy Newton’s Law. Today, most contributors sporadically give small amounts and respond infrequently. They force charities into expensive searches for new low-dollar donors to compensate for the unpredictable contribution stream.