Donors: You Never Know Until You
Ask
If you write off a particular constituency from your list of
potential donors without first engaging or asking them for a
gift, you’re taking yourself out of the game before the
opening whistle.
Randi Hogan, vice president at Metropolitan Group, presented
an array of “stereotype-busting” statistics during a
session titled “Multicultural Resource Development:
Effective Practices to Broadening Your Donor Base,” during
the recent Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising
Conference, sponsored by DMAW and AFP of Greater DC.
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Database
...
Assorted data elements extend life of
database
For some nonprofits, the data it collects about
donors is its lifeline. But sometimes that data isn’t
enough, or it at least can be improved.
Using assorted data elements can extend the
value of your house file, according to Catherine Algeri, senior
account director, and Jocelyn Harmon, director of business
development at Triplex Interactive. Their
session, “Data Appending Strategies to Supercharge
Your List and Raise More Money,” during the recent Bridge
to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference, was targeted
to nonprofits with house files of 10,000 records or more.
Data appending adds a point of information to
an existing house file. It could be lifestyle data, demographic
data or marketing data.
Data appends can help to:
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Identify the best prospects for planned
giving and major gifts
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Communicate with donors via their preferred
channels of communication
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Find new donors, advocates and
members
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Segment your campaigns
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Raise more money
Social data appending can validate a
nonprofit’s need for a social media program, find where
stakeholders “live” online and get in front of
donors’ friends. Appending data such as age, wealth and
home value can help find prospects for planned giving.
Harman and Algeri suggested environmental
groups append demographic data such as hunting and fishing
licenses to better segment their files. In the case of Guide
Dogs For the Blind, the organization appended dog owner
information to its file, helping to increase response and gift
level. In one campaign, the nonprofit used a letter from a
dog’s perspective about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
helping to evacuate the World Trade Center. Another version of
the letter was written from a blind person’s perspective
and sent to a non-dog owner list. The result was changing the
way the organization did acquisition mail, Algeri said, and was
able to go to two different audiences.
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Management ...
Be ready to move
quickly
Being the boss is easy when things are
going well. It’s like investing in the stock market during
the 1990s while the Dow was surging past 10,000. Trying to
invest in the market today, after the Dow shed a third of its
value last year, is a whole other story. Running a nonprofit
during these unprecedented economic times presents CEOs with
challenges they may not have been expected.
Lindsey Buss, president and CEO of
Martha’s Table, and Julie Chapman, president, NPower
Greater DC Region, offered their insights during a session
entitled “Leadership Lessons From The Front Lines”
during the recent Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising
Conference, sponsored by DMAW and AFP of Greater DC.
“Instability and the unknown is what
makes leadership difficult now,” Buss said.
During difficult times, it’s
important to be realistic. “Being realistic is talking to
people,” said Buss, (in other words, your funders) and
finding the right places to gather data. Martha’s Table
lost one foundation grant that it had received for nine years,
he said, while other foundations expected to continue funding at
the same level. Buss stressed finding the right places to gather
data.
Martha’s Table established a
subcommittee on its budget to act as a quick response team to
deal with situations, such as how the organization must deal
with a grant falling through. “We moving in real-time now,
with real-time decisions, and sometimes that alters the way an
organization deals with it,” Buss said.
“As an executive director, you
can’t be pessimistic, you’ll go crazy,”
Chapman said. Employees might complain about having to attend
mandatory, monthly staff meetings, she said, however when
there’s no meeting they feel uninformed. Those staff
meetings create a forum that’s already in place, “a
sort of baseline structure and relationship to get them through
tough times,” Chapman said.
Chapman also stressed being clear about
your organization’s metrics, so as “not to find
yourself in trouble, or too far gone.” |
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