Building E-lists
Remember the good ‘ol days of direct mail fundraising, when if you needed names you just went out and rented or exchanged for them by the bucketloads? And if you knew what you were doing, you could get pretty decent ones.
Of course in the online fundraising culture, new rules apply. [How we direct marketers ever let that happen, I don’t know!]
So, we have to build our own e-lists. Permission marketing. What a pain!
Ironically, despite the fact that permission marketing is the rule of the road for online marketing, whereas the direct mail list market is alive and well, donors still report being far more comfortable receiving an un-solicited direct mail pitch than an email solicitation.
According to The Agitator’s latest DonorTrends survey, 15% of donors are very uncomfortable receiving a fundraising request by mail, versus 53% by email. True, the email discomfort drops to 19% if the email comes from "someone you know." But that raises the interesting philosophical question: Do you really know Paul Newman more than ________ (fill in your exec director’s name) in their emailing personas?!
A virtual invasion of privacy is regarded as far more dastardly than a hard copy one, even though both are "deleted" equally easily. With spam filters these days, do you still get more unwanted email than snail mail?
Of course, some of us try to take short cuts and even try trick our prospects into parting with their email addresses. Here’s a humorous take on the matter.
Tom
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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