Mobile marketing and fundraising

One Today … As In $1

I’ve generally been skeptical of fundraising/giving tactics that create a wall between donors and recipient causes and organizations. Primarily because I was raised in the church of ‘relationship-building’. But I’m coming around to the belief that any giving is to be encouraged, because the world needs as many givers as we can possibly motivate and […]

Learn More May 23, 2013

Face-to-Face Fundraising Tips

Unlike Roger, who sings its praises, I confess to no personal experience with face-to-face fundraising … other than as a consumer. So I was pleased to get this article — 8 things you should know before starting Face-to-Face fundraising — from Terry van den Bemt and Willemien Melis of Pepperminds in The Netherlands. His bits of […]

Learn More April 18, 2013

Online Video Is Visual Too

Yesterday we wrote about delivering impact through visuals, with the focus being photos, infographics, even cartoons. But let’s not forget video … specifically, online and mobile video. Here’s a study that looked at viewer data from 150 videos used in online ads in the Q4 2012. About 730,000 individuals watched these videos, yielding a heap […]

Learn More April 17, 2013

Declining Email Read Rates

Here’s another troublesome trend line to add to falling retention and acquisition rates — falling email read rates. A worldwide study by email services provider Return Path looked at 400,000 email campaigns conducted in the 4th Qtr of 2012 and compared them to the prior year. Some data points: Across all sectors, only 17% of […]

Learn More March 6, 2013

Exciting Time To Be A Fundraiser

I had already posted yesterday’s piece on the importance of thinking bigger and better when I received Marc Chardon’s view of the “Key Non Profit Sector Trends in 2013.” Marc is the CEO of Blackbaud. His views are important. Partly because he sets the future strategy for a company that provides fundraising tools and data […]

Learn More January 9, 2013

CRM … Meet MRM

No sooner do direct marketing fundraisers get the message that success involves building relationships — customer relationship marketing (CRM) — when along comes MRM … mobile relationship marketing! Here’s a good summary of mobile usage data from a variety of sources, compiled for the Chief Marketing Officer Council. A few factoids that struck me: 4% […]

Learn More November 16, 2012

Never Too Old For Mobile

Awhile back we reported on America’s New Mobile Majority, noting that over 50% of US mobile subscriber now use smartphones. The post included extensive mobile use data from Pew Research. Additional data indicates that 36% of consumers read emails on mobile, rising to 55% among 18-34 year old; and 10% use mobile as their principal […]

Learn More October 30, 2012

The Media Environment For Marketing

Anyone in the marketing biz, and that certainly includes fundraisers, needs to be mindful of the evolving media environment in which consumers seek and use information. BI Intelligence offers this excellent and very comprehensive slide presentation on the state of the internet, including its relationship to other media. What will probably be of most interest […]

Learn More October 19, 2012

Time Magazine’s ‘Wireless’ Issue

I haven’t downloaded the digital version yet, but this OnlineSpin synopsis of Time’s “The Wireless Issue” makes the edition ‘must read’ in my book. Some articles: 10 Ways Mobile Technology Is Changing Our World Elections Will Never Be The Same Doing Good By Texting Bye-Bye, Wallets Gadgets Go To Class (using mobile in the classroom) […]

Learn More August 31, 2012

Can You Use This ‘Found’ Time?

Stripped to the basics, fundraisers need to squeeze their messages into the smaller and smaller bits of time prospects have at their disposal to ponder anything. So I was struck by this factoid in a NY Times article about the future of Time Inc’s magazines: the average smartphone user spends 1.4 hours a day waiting […]

Learn More July 31, 2012

Ask A Behavioral Scientist

Behavioral Science Q & A

Q: Do you have any insight on whether integrating an individual giving appeal with other comms from the charity in both appearance and messaging can uplift results? Or does the actual appeal become ‘lost’ for lack of stand-out?

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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Q: Is there any research on response rate impact in direct mail when referring to a sustainer gift as ongoing or recurring (catching all frequencies) v. monthly or annual?

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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Q: A major conservation nonprofit sends me lots of mail, many of which have on the envelope “time to renew” or “2nd notice.” I find this practice deceptive, especially as I haven’t given to said organization since 1997. It must be effective or they wouldn’t do it. But is it ethical?

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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Q: I find it irritating when some nonprofits accept my “gift” and then ask me to cover their credit card fees separately. It feels like a practice that does nothing to help win donors and runs the risk of turning others off. Is there any data on this either way?

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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Q: What are the three most important things to consider when designing a brilliant supporter journey?

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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Q: Is there any evidence that changes to the tax laws in the USA changed end of year giving behaviors? Previously, ~30% of US taxpayers filed itemized tax returns allowing them to receive a deduction for charitable giving. Tax law changed in 2017 so that now only ~10% itemize. This should mean tax year-end giving should not matter to millions of people for whom it used to matter. Is there any data evidence to support this?

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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The Agitator Tool Box

Ideas, applications, tools, processes, and case studies of break-through solutions in fundraising, including: