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"What a great resource! I have received a number of similar mailings over the years, and always ended up unsubscribing — mostly because they were too much text. This was short, sweet — and useful! I can't think of someone better qualified to share this kind of advice!"

Josephine Martell
International Fund for Animal Welfare

Giving Back E-Tips

Make the Most of Your Assets

Karen GedneyDear Visitor:

In tough economic times, it’s easy to bemoan budget cuts and feel frustrated when there are too few staff resources to do everything you need to accomplish.

But I think that times like this can bring out the best in us — forcing us to be a little scrappier and more creative.

Right now, due to the expense, I would never suggest that a client create an online video from scratch. Yet, all it took was a few minutes of searching around one client’s Web site to find — buried in a longer media clip — some video footage that perfectly dramatized one of the organization's most critical issues. We turned the found footage into an email campaign that brought in an extra, unbudgeted $53,500 in new donations overnight. The cost involved was minimal — writing a 30-second script. The video editing and voiceover narration were donated by the client's family members.

So keep in mind that not every idea needs to be “a project” that has to be created from scratch — a topic that's explored further in today’s e-tip on maximizing donations with simple follow-up campaigns.

Follow Up to Keep Donations Rising

Want to get more mileage out of the fundraising appeals you worked so hard to create? Send them again!

I’ve seen follow-up direct mail packages and email broadcasts do exceedingly well — often outperforming the original appeal.

In direct mail, it’s pretty easy to send a follow-up. I’ve found that a simple outer envelope teaser that works every time is, “In case you missed my previous message.” That personal approach is then carried through with a handwritten note on top of the original letter that says, “In case you didn’t get a chance to read the letter I sent last month, here’s another copy. I’ve also enclosed an important update.”

For the update, this copy approach tends to bring in additional donations:

Since I wrote you last month, the need for your leadership support has taken on new and heightened urgency. (And then the copy briefly explains the more urgent situation that has transpired since the last appeal.)

If you were an “early responder” to the letter we sent you last month, please accept my heartfelt thanks. But if you haven’t yet had a chance to respond, I want you to know that your gift is needed more than ever. (And then the copy explains why in more detail.)

In email, a follow-up can be a sure donation-booster. I generally write a compelling new subject line — trying to hit a hot button that we may not have pressed in the original email. For example, if the original fundraising appeal is about a threat to a particular animal, then the follow-up subject line focuses on the danger to the animal’s young — the cubs or the pups. Or the follow-up focuses on an urgent deadline that is right around the corner — or an upcoming seasonal risk to the animal (for example, the Spring ice melt causing polar bear dens to cave in on mothers and their newborn cubs).

Then it’s simply a matter of sending the original email with a personal note added at the top that explains the heightened urgency and new risks that make it exceedingly critical to respond now. As we talked about in a previous e-tip, these follow-up emails also provide an opportunity to ask members to “chip in” a small amount. Most of the time, donors will give even more generously than you ask — often doubling a $10 ask with a $20 gift.

Overall, the point is that instead of focusing on a fundraising appeal as a one-shot deal, think of it as the start of a campaign. A direct mail appeal can be updated and re-used over a series of months. An email campaign can be extended over the course of a week or more. In other words, you’ll get more “bang for your buck” when you follow up.

If you would like to see samples of successful follow-up campaigns, contact Karen at 718-680-1627 or at kg@karengedney.com.