21 Hot Tips to Raise More Money! Presented By: Lautman Maska Neill & Company June 4, 2015

Transcription

1 21 Hot Tips to Raise More Money! Presented By: Lautman Maska Neill & Company June 4, 2015

2 1. Who you mail is more important than what you mail. Targeting known donors to other organizations will yield the greatest response to your new-donor acquisition effort. List Source Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Donor Lists 12, % $10,781 $42.11 Buyer & Subscriber Lists 8, % $7,228 $62.31 Compiled Lists 5, % $1,955 $44.43 Multi Buyers (on 2 or more lists) 11, % $7,591 $44.92 Total Mailing 38, % $27,555 $47.10

3 2. Mailing smaller can be smarter. Find the areas even if they are small that are most responsive. Geographical Area Quantity Mailed % of Total Qty Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross % of Total Average Gift Ramsey 17,959 29% % $7,143 24% $34.34 Hennepin 45,061 72% % $23,117 76% $40.84 Total Mailing 63, % % $30, % $39.10 Geographical Area Quantity Mailed % of Total Qty Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross % of Total Average Gift Dekalb 16,227 31% % $7,849 36% $48.45 Fulton 35,671 69% % $13,766 64% $44.55 Total Mailing 51, % % $21, % $45.89

4 3. Font matters - try Courier! Courier font works best for Meals on Wheels donors. It s large and easy to read, and our donors are older than most (50% over 65). We ve tested it against Times New Roman, Palatino and Garamond and Courier always comes out the winner.

5 4. Size matters - bigger is better! Readability is key when it comes to clearly communicating with your donors. Serif fonts in at least 12 point size are best. In this test, increasing the font size increased both response and average gift, yielding a $19,807 increase in revenue! Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control 11, % $53,121 $ Test - Larger Font 11, % $72,928 $141.06

6 5. Don t include photos in your letter.

7 Don t include photos in your letter. Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control - No photos 7, % $13,451 $39.68 Test - Photos in letter 7, % $10,169 $32.80 Including photos in the letter decreased the response rate and lowered the average gift. The package with photos in the letter raised $3,282 less than the control package.

8 6. Use the credit card option carefully. Including the option to pay via credit card may seem like an easy way to get more gifts through the mail, but results are actually mixed. In this test, including a credit card payment option in an acquisition mailing decreased the average gift and resulted in $3,449 less income. Acquisition Mailing Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control 50, % $26,471 $51.20 Test - Credit Card Option 50, % $23,022 $45.50

9 Use the credit card option carefully. However, some Meals on Wheels organizations have seen that including a credit card payment option in their appeal mailings can actually increase average gift enough to yield higher net revenue. Why? Your existing donors trust you and are comfortable sharing their credit card number with you. Active Donor Mailing Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control 7, % $41,788 $74.75 Test - Credit Card Option 7, % $45,755 $83.49

10 7. Don t ask for CVV information. Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control 14, % $35,752 $38.20 Test - Security Code ask 14, % $33,325 $40.74 Asking for CVV (Card Verification Value) numbers will decrease response in this test it resulted in 118 fewer gifts and a $2,427 decrease in revenue. It costs just pennies more to process a credit card or debit card payment without providing the CVV number to the bank the savings isn t worth what you ll lose in revenue.

11 8. Less can mean more. Decreasing the first ask amount can actually increase response rate and raise more funds overall. Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control - $36 Ask 50, % $20,130 $61.37 Test - $30 Ask 50, % $20,981 $57.01 Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control - $20 Ask 28, % $9,494 $27.84 Test - $10 Ask 28, % $10,683 $25.74

12 9. Test the obvious.

13 Test the obvious (cont.) Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control 20, % $32,339 $33.65 Test - Recycle Bug 20, % $28,035 $32.30 Including the Recycle Bug on the test package decreased response rate and average gift. In the end, the test package with the recycle bug raised $4,304 less than the control package!

14 Test the obvious (cont.)

15 Test the obvious (cont.) Quantity Percent Gross Average Cost Per Net Segment Mailed # Resps Response Gift Segment Income CTRAD Control 68, % $34,745 $50.72 $27,331 $7,414 $0.79 Test: Matching Gift Offer 68, % $26,114 $45.81 $27,332 ($1,218) $1.05

16 Test the obvious (cont.) Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control 18, % $19,567 $33.56 Test - BBB/Charity Nav. 18, % $18,756 $32.73 Including the Charity Navigator and BBB logos and information on the back of the reply form actually decreased response and average gift. Ultimately, the test package raised $901 less than the control package.

17 10. Remind donors that they are family. Printing a small note on the reply form that reads Donor Since YYYY or Supporter Since YYYY can increase both response rate and average gift. In this test, including Supporter Since YYYY on the reply form increased revenue by $9,209! But be careful Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control 30,184 2, % $52,727 $26.35 Test - "Supporter Since " 30,183 2, % $61,936 $28.94

18 Remind donors they are family (cont.)

19 11. Lapsed donors don t think they re lapsed Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control 20, % $6,133 $27.02 Test - "Last Gift Date " 20, % $7,751 $31.64 Including a small note on the reply form that reads Last Gift Date YYYY can increase both response rate and average gift. In this test, including Last Gift Date YYYY on the reply form increased revenue by $1,618 among the lapsed donor segment!

20 Lapsed donors don t think they re lapsed (cont.)

21 12. It s a critically urgent emergency

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23 13. If something works well do it again! Mailing the same letter two years in a row proved that a strong message can be effective with donors, even when they ve seen it before. Response rate to this package actually increased when it was mailed a second time. Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Results for all partners - September 2008 Renewal 62,191 7, % $526,334 $65.93 Results for all partners - September 2009 Renewal 75,708 10, % $660,354 $62.74

24 If something works well do it again!

25 14. Use a special ask to get upgrades.

26 15. Don t ask for in the mail. Donors sometimes find being asked for their address off-putting. In this test, providing a line for donor addresses decreased the average gift lowering revenue by $7,644! Additionally, this organization only received 25 addresses as a result of the test and only 2 of them were addresses they didn t already have! Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control - No Ask 7, % $42,242 $64.79 Test - Ask 7, % $34,598 $53.15

27 16. Keep s relevant, regular and engaging. Content is king! s must be interesting to the reader, and should be sent in regular, predictable intervals. Every time you send an , make sure you can answer yes to one of the below questions: Will it be interesting enough to forward to a friend? Will it inspire action? Will it motivate a donation? Need more ideas? Check out our recent blog post: _the_most_of_your_fundraising_ s

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29 17. Show me you know me in too! campaigns should be segmented whenever possible. Some ways to segment your data include: donor vs. non-donor: use language to acknowledge the past support of donors and language that invites non-donors to take the extra step and become a donor today volunteer-specific segment: be sure to acknowledge the special role these supporters play in your mission long-term donors: some messages, especially thank you s, are a great place to remind donors of their years of support donor interests: reference the topic the supporter is most interested in (use the data you have to your advantage) - it boosts response rate!

30 18. Cultivation is key.

31 Cultivation is key.

32 19. The check is in the mail. Online donations are growing each year, but that growth continues to be slow. In 2014, only 2% of charitable giving to Human Service nonprofits was contributed online. **Target Analytics Index of National Fundraising Performance

33 20. With new donors, it s all about long term value donors acquired in ,188 1, # of gifts 3,741 2,124 1,684 1,613 gifts per donor revenue $234,664 $150,486 $130,986 $126,721 avg gift amt $62.73 $70.85 $77.78 $78.56 revenue per donor $73.61 $ $ $ cumulative retention 36.39% 30.33% 26.94% New donors acquired in 2011 have contributed a total of $408,193 in additional revenue over a three year period. Given this summary, we can project that each new donor acquired is worth $128 in new money over three years.

34 21. Live by your metrics Focus on overall fundraising metrics to track the health of your donor file: File growth Donor retention Number of gifts per donor Average donor value

35 Total donors 8,263 8,786 9,325 Total # of gifts 14,743 16,127 16,754 gifts per donor total amount $994,611 $1,133,353 $1,237,595 avg gift amt $67.46 $70.28 $73.87 avg per donor $ $ $ new donor renewal candidates 2,545 2,035 2,226 new donor renewals renewal rate 35.2% 36.6% 34.6% # of gifts 1,610 1,307 1,555 gifts per donor total amount $94,856 $82,854 $115,729 avg gift amt $58.92 $63.39 $74.42 avg per donor $ $ $ multi-year donors 6,032 6,228 6,560 multi-year donor renewals 3,850 4,038 4,223 renewal rate 63.8% 64.8% 64.4% # of gifts 8,663 9,605 9,843 gifts per donor total amount $625,233 $712,391 $764,593 avg gift amt $72.17 $74.17 $77.68 avg per donor $ $ $ A growing donor file, increasing donor value, strong retention of new and existing donors, and multiple gifts per year are all signs of a healthy donor file.

36 Bonus Tip!

37 22. The money s in the meals. Active Donor Mailing Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control - Meal Message 3, % $25,879 $82.16 Test - Agency Message 3, % $17,559 $61.40 The test package, which spoke about the variety of services the agency provides, had a lower response rate and a lower average gift than the mealspecific control package. Ultimately, the meal-specific package raised $8,320 more than the agency package!

38 The money s in the meals. Acquisition Mailing Segment Quantity Mailed Number of Gifts Response Rate Gross Average Gift Control - Meal Message 63, % $32,364 $41.44 Test - Agency Message 63, % $15,664 $36.01 In this acquisition mailing test, the package which spoke about the variety of services the agency provides also had a much lower response rate and a lower average gift than the meal-specific control package. Ultimately, the meal-specific package raised twice as much money and acquired 80% more new donors than the agency package!

39 Lynn Mehaffy, CFRE Thank you! Vice President Cooperative Business ext. 210 Jordanna Sussman Account Executive ext