Uncategorized

What Does It Take To Be Remarkable?

I just read an article about an individual who died suddenly, mid-way through his life expectancy. His death was eulogized from The Economist to the Hindustan Times. On the sixth day of every month (he died last September 6), an online community gathers to reflect about him. His significant other received some six thousand messages […]

Learn More June 2, 2008

Bringing A Dead Brand Back To Life

I’ll say it flat out … this, from the New York Times magazine, is one of the most fascinating marketing articles I’ve ever read. It’s about a company that buys "dead" brands … the intellectual property left from products no longer made, like Brim coffee, SalonSelectives shampoos, Nuprin, and Underalls … and brings them back […]

Learn More May 22, 2008

“Did I Fly All The Way Here For This?!”

Seth Godin, in his usual effortless way, raises a point that’s so obvious, but still makes you think. Talking about rising fuel and other "transaction" costs of air travel, he observes that if you’re going to get on a plane these days and travel to a distant conference or sales meeting, it had better be […]

Learn More May 21, 2008

Donors Need Emergency Help – II

Yesterday we wrote about the difficulty, during natural disaster calamities, for donors to assess which relief charities might put their donation to work most effectively. From Matthew Sherrington, now at EveryChild in London (and formerly at Greenpeace USA) here is a very informative description of the way disaster relief fundraising is coordinated in the UK. […]

Learn More May 16, 2008

“Donors Need Emergency Help”

So writes Holden Karnofsky of the GiveWell Blog, attracting these comments in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. His point is that in the present humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, prospective donors are confronted by dozens of organizations raising funds for relief. How is one to know which group might most effectively use the funds? Part of me […]

Learn More May 15, 2008

How Trustworthy Are You?

Nothing much gets done when trust is absent. Certainly no fundraising. So how trustworthy are you? Here’s a self-evaluation survey concocted by Charles Green, co-author of The Trusted Advisor, and a blogger on the role of trust in marketing, sales and business in general. If you take the quiz you’ll find your trustworthiness ranked against […]

Learn More May 4, 2008

Nonprofits Have No Claim On Ethical High Ground

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently reported a study by the Ethics Resource Center on ethical standards and behavior in nonprofits. Guess what? Nonprofit ethics are pretty miserable … and apparently in decline. This based upon a survey within our own community. Should we expect the public (specifically donors and would-be donors) to believe differently than […]

Learn More April 18, 2008

Online Marketing Benchmark Study

More great data from Convio, compiled from more than 400 nonprofits and millions of online interactions and transactions. Report looks at seven areas: Website traffic — up 34% for groups with more than 250,000 email addresses Registration rates — 3% of unique visitors convert Email file size — Convio clients grew 32% over previous year […]

Learn More April 17, 2008

Is Less Better?

MarketingSherpa says "Yes" when it comes to email subject lines. They say emails with shorter subject lines are more likely to get opened. A somewhat contrarian position. Looking at the fog of visual clutter in e-mailboxes, they note: "White space is eye candy on a crowded screen. Your eye dives in there automatically." They’ve observed […]

Learn More April 16, 2008

What You Need To Know About The Wired Wealthy

I finally got through my reading pile to a report released about three weeks ago by Convio, Sea Change Strategies and Edge Research. The Wired Wealthy is an important study of the online behaviors and preferences of major donors (i.e., individuals giving cumulatively $1000 in a year to a given cause, through any means). Twenty-three nonprofits provided research […]

Learn More April 14, 2008

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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Uncategorized

What Does It Take To Be Remarkable?

Bringing A Dead Brand Back To Life

“Did I Fly All The Way Here For This?!”

Donors Need Emergency Help – II

“Donors Need Emergency Help”

How Trustworthy Are You?

Nonprofits Have No Claim On Ethical High Ground

Online Marketing Benchmark Study

Is Less Better?

What You Need To Know About The Wired Wealthy

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?

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?

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?

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?

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

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