The Not-So-Great Divide

You really must integrate online and offline outreach — now and for good.

Collect direct-mail addresses from online donors. Collect e-mail addresses from offline donors at events and in mailings. Put your website address on all your offline materials.

Step 3

Plan donor-centric campaigns. Your appeals should always be created from the donor perspective, complete with a compelling story, clear call to action, and a consistent message and look-and-feel online and off. Note: I said consistent message, not identical message. Your offline message needs to be shortened, tightened and edited for tone in order to be ready for online consumption. Similarly, your two-paragraph e-mail bulletin won't work in direct mail. An integrated campaign is one that takes a consistent message and reworks it depending on the audience and outreach vehicle being used.

Step 4

Reinforce, sandwich and supplement. Your online and offline calls to action should refer to each other and reinforce each other. Try sandwiching: sending an e-mail, then a direct-mail piece and then an e-mail, each supporting and supplementing the others. Follow up on a telemarketing call with an e-mail. Include in a direct-mail piece a teaser about great content only available online.

Step 5

Monitor results. With a great database with one view into donors (step 2), this should be easy. Learn what combination of online and offline efforts work best — and which don't work at all — and adjust accordingly. FS