Top Fundraising Strategies For Thriving in Times of Economic Stress
July 14, 2009 By Polly Papsadore
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In the DMA Nonprofit Federation workshop “45 Top Strategies to Survive and Thrive in Today’s Economy” held in May in New York, presenters Lynn Edmonds, president; Bryan Terpstra, vice president of fundraising; Amy Beaudoin, associate creative director; and Kevin Eagan, vice president of production services, all of LW Robbins Associates; and Jenny Floria, senior director of account management at ParadyszMatera, offered practical guidance on the best strategies to strengthen donor relationships and increase net revenue during the economic downturn.
Floria identified the following acquisition tools and techniques as essential to weather the storm and come out poised for growth:
Floria identified the following acquisition tools and techniques as essential to weather the storm and come out poised for growth:
- ZIP it up. ZIP models can be built to improve response, average gift or a combination of metrics. Use a ZIP model on marginally performing lists, or, if you’re in an acquisition-cutting mode, use a model to trim strategically.
- Aim to “meet” your control. If you have a few similarly performing packages, “meet” your control with similarly performing creatives to build a package-rotation strategy. A package-rotation strategy extends the life of your control packages and allows you to mail your core files more frequently with less possibility of list fatigue.
- Regress to find your next mailable universe. Donor lists only comprise 15 percent of the total gross names available on the list market, yet nonprofits rely heavily on donor lists as a part of their acquisition efforts. Open the door to commercial list possibilities by using a list regression model to tap into large publishing or buyer databases.
- Layer long-term value into acquisition planning. Do you know if the donor you’re spending $10 to acquire is worth $10? Balancing the LTV of the donors you’re acquiring with the cost to acquire them is key to making the right changes to your acquisition program to improve your overall direct-mail program’s health.
- Reduce list costs without killing your broker. For mailers who have names on the market, the exchange/rental ratio has a larger impact on net list cost than the price of names rented. Work with your broker and list manager to ensure that you’re optimizing your exchange relationships. Reuse top-performing files to reduce list fees.
- Be merge-purge efficient. A 5 percent decrease in net output rates can increase your net list cost by as much as $12/M. Rip apart your merge process to ensure you’re retaining as many of those names as you’re paying for. Can you reduce the size of your suppression files? Review your list interaction to see if you’ve got some lists knocking each other out, and consider limiting their use within the same merge.
Companies Mentioned:
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The Art & Science of Multichannel Fundraising
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