“I’m not looking at you Dudes, I’m looking past you.” – Jay-Z
Agents work from your donor out. We think from your donor’s perspective. We start with your objective and create the irresistible call to action that will inspire your donor. We work backwards from there to build the compelling case and figure out how you’ll get noticed in your donor’s mailbox and inbox, but more importantly be remembered in their heart and mind.
We’ve been haunted a bit lately talking to clients about “big ideas”. Names omitted to protect the guilty, but I had a call from an ED who asked me how I could “make us a million dollar viral video for YouTube”. I calmly explained we needed a million dollar idea. YouTube was just the vehicle where it would play…YouTube is not an ATM.
And I sat in a fancy US charity’s office as their agency pitched flashy images and talked a lot about “stickiness”. Why did I feel like the wet blanket asking whether it was for donors or prospects? And when they scratched their heads and said it was for donors, I was a soaking blanket asking whether donors really wanted/needed/would respond to the “hard hitting and gut-wrenching” stuff?
Consultants yammer about creative, “integrated” campaigns. I do too. Come on, other consultants reading this blog – you do to!
Stop.
Connect with charities about the core objectives, measuring the results, segmentation – who are you talking to? And what do you want them to do?
We love big ideas. We pitch big ideas. We shake our fists at campaigns without a big idea. But the big idea doesn’t guarantee success in direct marketing.
Guarantee your success in direct marketing by:
- Defining your objective – and how you will measure the results tied to it
- Knowing who you are talking to – possibly to multiple segments in different ways that recognize and respect their relationship to you
- Clearly calling them to action
- Building your case for support and consider how to stand out
- Developing thoughtful, convenient but most importantly appropriate response devices
Ees? Krow sdrawkcab! [haven’t had your coffee yet? That says “See? Work backwards!”...backwards!]
Twitter Updates
18 May 2010 at 9:49 pm
Jen, very insightful post-thanks for sharing! All very good points! I think that there’s a real nexus between points #2 (Knowing who you’re talking to) and #5 (Developing appropriate response devices). I think too many nonprofits dive into a decision about a response device BEFORE knowing who they’re talking to-the most common options are to go with A) what they’re used to (same old thing they’ve been doing for years) or B) the hottest new thing (because they don’t want to miss the boat and it’s sure to work). Even something as fundamental as understanding that the response device for existing donors, may need to be different than for prospect donors can get overlooked. I honestly think that many nonprofits get overwhelmed because there are so many new ways to connect, and this leads to poor marketing decisions. Even in my business of direct mail, there is a general lack of awareness in the nonprofit community about something as powerful as variable data-which allows for personalizing each piece and making it more relevant to the recipient! In many cases, the nonprofits that I encounter are sitting on a gold mine of information about donors, but they don’t utilize it in their campaigns.
Keep up the good work! Blase
19 May 2010 at 5:19 am
Hi Blase! Thanks for leaving such an insightful comment. Particularly for direct mail, I would add a C) which is that they dive into a decision because they like it personally/aesthetically. And even though they are writing to “Aunt Dorothy”, a 65 year old woman, they do a reply device with so much copy WE need a magnifying glass to read it, let alone older donors. And it’s like a maze to figure out where to make your gift! Thanks again for adding to our discussion — and for the kudos.