Magnets Anyone?
Here’s an article from DirectMarketingIQ extolling the virtues of involvement devices in direct mail appeals. Magnets are a classic.
First of all, yes, lots of testing confirms that this stuff generally lifts response (but that’s not an excuse to not test before you commit your own nonprofit to thousands of tchotchkes).
The article asserts that the tactile appeal of involvement devices gives an edge to direct mail over online appeals.
So the metaphysical Agitator question of the day is: Is touching a physical object a higher form of involvement than passing along an e-petition or video to a friend? And the bottom-line question is: Which is more likely to lift fundraising response?
Actually, while I’m in an inquisitive mood, I have two more questions. Does anyone out there have a collection of fundraising appeal magnets? Would someone care to nominate their “best ever” involvement device?
Tom
P.S. How many of you could have actually spelled tchotchke?! I tried four variations — none of them began with “t” — before I got close enough for Google to find it.
5 responses to “Magnets Anyone?”
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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Holding things in your hands is important — and for items like magnets, you also get the lasting branding impact. I don’t know if it is a higher level of involvement than passing along a petition or video online though. Because when you decide to pass something along, you do have to stop and think about who you are going to send it to and it forces you to reflect on your values and who shares those values. So that’s a pretty cool thing.
p.s. I decided to go with the word items so I didn’t have to spell tchocke or chockey or whatever. 🙂
When I worked for a theater, we sent magnets with the new season information on it when we asked people to renew their subscriptions. People loved it because it was information they wanted in a convenient format that they would see often (hopefully on their fridge).
Now, I work in an environmental education group and I have to be very careful and selective with my little gifts because people who give to environmental groups pay us to promote less consumption. It is a careful balance. I often use a simple bookmark with photos of kids we serve on one side and a list of what a donation can buy on the back, and people seem to like that – recycled paper, soy ink, recyclable, of course.
In one mailing last year, I sent cards for people to write a note to our students who didn’t get mail at camp. Unfortunately, very few were returned to me. I think that people liked the cards too much and decided to keep them. HA! I needed to make them less cute, I guess. The good news was that one donor asked if I could make more for her. Of course I did, then she sent me another donation. Great!
I’d love to hear more about raising response by forwarding/sharing/commenting/etc. online. In my experience, I haven’t had that be so. Paper mail is still king – even in environmental groups, unfortunately. I always have trouble renewing my email only donors compared to my paper donors.
What has raised my response rates is customization. For example, when I send letters with personal notes and real signatures to families we serve, I get a much better response than when I just send it through the mail house – even if I don’t include the bumper sticker. Probably no surprise.
Tom:
Fulfill tchotchkes for online contacts:
As more and more successful NPO fund raisers start using the low cost Internet approaches to generate contacts; they typically get email addresses, but they need a way to get correlating terrestrial address; especially from Millennials. I recommend to my clients to “fulfill” with tchotchkes. Once you have the terrestrial, you can append demos and begin to understand waaay more about the contact.
The spelling of “Tchotchkes” – who knew!!!.
-Mike Browne
Browne Innovation Group
I am a support vendor for a national nonprofit. My company provides the logo-imprinted items of which you write. Best involvement piece ever? Lottery-like tickets. The fundraiser uses it as a crutch to ask for donations. There is a physical handoff, and tactile involvement on part of donor. The twist is that you donate whatever you scratch off. We designed it to raise $250 if fully used, and our hope is that the fun interaction would yield meaningful conversations involving recruitment and mission delivery. But…tracking income through the method proved almost impossible. The money came in offline of course and we were unable to find a low cost alternative way to track. So, lots of great feedback from fundraisers, hard to prove ROI.
Katrina
Personally, I detest magnets. I do not like cluttering my space with them and feel incredibly guilty about putting them in the trash, knowing they are not earth-friendly, period. We need to be more conscious of the waste we foist on others in the name of good causes.