This week, we’ll look at some of the lessons we in the nonprofit world can learn from those in the political world.

Wait!  Don’t leave!

There are lessons we can take from the political realm because they, like we, exist on donations. Imagine if, in November, your nonprofit was going to either win or lose: accomplish all your goals or cease to exist. When the stakes are that high, there are distilled lessons we can benefit from.  If you haven’t read The Victory Lab or Rick Perry and His Eggheads, I strongly recommend them as valuable insights into another industry that relies on donations for its livelihood.

So, today I’m going to talk about Ted Cruz.

Wait! Don’t leave!

I won’t get into Ted vs. Beto and the race for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas.  This goes back to when Ted Cruz, as a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016,   won the Iowa caucus.  As part of that race,  Cruz took an unusual position for a presidential candidate– he spoke out against fireworks regulations.

Usually, Iowa presidential contests focus on broad national issues that a candidate would be expected to lead on as president (plus ethanol).  Fireworks range as a “national issue” somewhere between garbage collection and why-don’t-they-do-something-about-that-tacky-display-of-Christmas-lights-on-Steve-and-Janice’s-house.

But the Cruz campaign knew its supporters.  They identified through statistical modeling and talking with voters that there were 60 votes to be had because of this issue.  Let’s repeat that – he took a position for 60 votes.

As we unpack this, there are several lessons we nonprofits can take from this operation:

The leadership role of direct marketing.  Cruz’s campaign was run by a direct marketing specialist, unlike those of most of his opponents.  As a result, analytics and polling in the campaign were skewed not toward what generalized messages do best with a focus group or are the least offensive to the most people, but what issue made a difference.  In fact, in the campaign, the analytics team had a broader set of responsibilities than normal.  Analytics drove targeting decisions online and offline.

The imperative to know your constituents.  Much political polling is focused on knowing voters in the aggregate.  The Cruz campaign wanted to know them specifically.  So they gathered supporters –and also non-supporters –and asked them about local concerns.  This exercise produced 77 different issues, including red-light cameras and, as you probably guessed, fireworks bans.

Testing to know potential constituents.  Once the campaign had identified the local issues, they tested them online with Facebook ads.  The ads weren’t specific to the Cruz campaign, but rather asked people to sign up for more information about that issue.  Once they had these data, they not only had specific knowledge of what people cared about, but the grist for the mill of data operations for Iowa. The perhaps subtle but really important strategy shift here is starting where people are, based on who they are, and what they need.

This means making the first connection as a non-financial ask. Why?  Because nobody wakes up each day wondering how they can give their money away.  They wake up with routine behaviors driven by subconscious values and goals.  In short, we all make choices, routine and otherwise, trying to live out those values and achieve those goals;  and we want to expend as little mental energy as possible in so doing.

If you connect with me based on where I am (mentally) then I’m more likely to notice your communication, process it and act on it. In Cruz World, this meant initiating the relationship on an issue (fireworks),  but much more importantly, tied to values (e.g., personal freedom to blow myself up) that are core to me. Voting for Cruz or giving him money is several steps removed from what I (initially) care about.  The same holds for your charity.

This is a very different approach from one-size-fits-all ‘value-exchange’ and “two-step” lead -generation-to -donation work we usually see in the nonprofit sector. As in, Step 1: call to action or sign the petition; Step 2. Convert to contribution.

This well-worn, conventional approach basically treats everyone the same and requires knowing nothing about the prospective supporters to execute on it.  The results: poor to so-so.

However, our testing shows that an identity-based approach that requires different lead generation for different cohorts can significantly increase engagement rates and lower costs for Facebook ads.  Meaning that greater numbers of leads can be generated more cost-effectively for relevant programs.

Of course, getting them in the door is the easy part, the tip of the iceberg.  Converting and holding onto them is the other side of this coin. And this is why my colleagues at DonorVoice will soon be launching an identity-based acquisition product that includes lead generation tied to Identity (i.e. values),   Needs and key Supporter Journey Elements required to mentally walk them down the path to regular/monthly giving.     If you’d like to be notified when we launch, just email me at nellinger@thedonorvoice.com.

Focusing on actual goals.  Cruz’s end goal was to drive voters, just like ours is to drive donations. By distilling down to the essentials that gets people to pull the voting machine levers/hit the button/punch the chad, the campaign had a crystallizing focus.  They focused on those things that mattered, rather than on vanity metrics like Facebook likes.

Hypertargeting. All of this led to some of the most targeted direct marketing that has been seen in the political world.  For example, when telemarketing was employed for particular voters, not only would the message reflect what they cared about (e.g., fireworks bans) but the identity basis for why they cared about it (e.g., missed fun at 4th of July versus what seems to some as an arbitrary attack on liberty).

So now, let’s look at this in a nonprofit direct marketing context.  How well do you know your donors and potential donors?  I mean, how well do you really know them?  And how well do you use that insight to tailor the initial interaction and how do you play that back to them along the journey?

The ability to project not only what someone will support, but why they do, and then designing mail pieces, call scripts, and emails that touch their hearts are critical parts of what fundraisers must do.  Best of all it’s inexpensive and easy to do. Once you have the “what” and “why” if you were already planning on sending a mail piece or making a phone call it’s simplicity itself to change out key paragraphs that will make the difference in the donation decision.

So, how can you, today, get smarter about your donors and show them you are smarter about them?

Nick