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Direct Marketing 101: Database, Online Marketing, and Telefundraising

Part three of a new blog series.

Fundraising is a major facet to the Direct Marketing world. Whether you work in-house or at an agency, it is crucial to understand the techniques and strategies in order to create a successful campaign. In our third and final blog post on DMAW’s DM 101 workshop, learn from the professionals who understand what it takes to make a fundraising campaign a success.

 

Julie Wilson

Julie Wilson, Director of Strategic Planning, Integral

Database/Analytics

  • The key to maximizing donor and program value and sustained growth is getting the right information to the right people at the right time.
  • Organizations are only able to manage what they can measure:
    • Define what productivity means to you and your organization
    • Make sure the metrics are thought out and action oriented
    • Capture benchmarks and set sustainable goals
    • Ensure there are processes in place to get the data you need
  • Always be skeptical!

 

Amy

Amy Vanpouille Padre, Digital Services Director, Avalon Consulting

Online Marketing

  • Even though online revenue makes up a small piece of the overall fundraising pie (roughly 10% of total revenue), multi-channel donors who give through more than one channel have been found to be better donors when looking at key metrics like average gift and retention. This is why integration is so important.
  • There is no silver bullet for collecting email addresses. Collect email addresses everywhere (your website, direct mail reply devices, etc.) and through different techniques (list chaperones/cross promotions, email appends, petition-based sites, retargeting, etc.).
  • Apply the same good fundraising disciplines as other channels. Even though the channel has changed, the steps of defining the universe, defining the program strategy, defining creative, and defining your tests should remain the same.
  • Analyze and benchmark against the industry and your own results. Industry standards are important, but they may not always be the best comparison since they look at organizations of different sizes and from different sectors. It’s equally as important to set a baseline for your own organization.

 

Mark Mitchell

Mark Mitchell, Vice President of Business Development, SD&A Teleservices

Telefundraising

  • The BIG difference between Telefundraising and Telemarketing
  • How to best connect with your donors, and leveraging the phone to also help drive revenue to all other channels.
  • New cell phone regulations: when is it OK to call cell phones?
  • Using the phone successfully for acquisition of brand new donors.
  • Think long term: the ROI and exponential growth of monthly giving.

 

We hope you enjoyed this informative blog series that highlighted points from DMAW’s Direct Marketing 101 workshop. Look out for our next blog post on DMAW’s Direct Marketing 201 workshop.