Companion marketing, which is the practice of representing a unified marketing message across multiple mediums including direct mail and e-mail, can help fundraisers improve brand recognition, broaden a campaign’s reach and increase response rates. Once a campaign is in place, fundraisers may experience a more responsive audience and higher instances of qualified leads due to the targeted and high-touch nature of companion marketing.
An organization’s brand touches a person’s head, heart and spirit, says Tony Elischer, managing director of U.K.-based THINK Consulting Solutions. “A brand is a relationship that creates and secures an emotional connection to a cause in a profound way that leads to a funding preference and volunteer loyalty,” Elischer said in his session, “Brandraising: Securing Share of Mind, Heart and Spirit,” at the 2008 Bridge Conference held last month in Washington, D.C. “Do a brand right, and a donor will trust you. They will tolerate us asking for money,” he said. Branding can make or break an organization. Marketers must own and drive an
