The NonProfit Times - May 15, 2008 - (Page 10)

DIRECT RESPONSE ROB BLIZARD Striking The Best Deal Improving the selection process for a DM consultant N onprofit direct marketers spend their days managing fundraising programs to help their organizations carry out valued missions. But are these professionals doing everything they can to help the bottom line when securing a direct marketing vendor? The answer, probably, is no. According to Geoffrey Peters, president and CEO of the CDR Fundraising Group in Bowie, Md., and also immediate past president of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington, nonprofits still are not doing themselves any favors when they seek a direct response firm.“Unfortunately, nonprofit managers’ failure to understand certain details remains high,” Peters said. In seeking a direct marketing firm, “there are key issues that arise but are all too often overlooked by nonprofits,” said Mal Warwick, founder and chairman of direct response vendor Mal Warwick Associates in Berkeley, Calif. In a nonprofit industry that mails billions of pieces a year to just 300 million Americans, not getting the best deal can cost an untold percentage of the precious donations solicited by the very same direct marketing managers. Improve the deal with a vendor and save a small fortune. REFINING THE REQUEST One of the initial steps in engaging a direct response vendor is development of the request for proposal (RFP) -- a critical stage by all accounts. Jennifer Thomas, membership director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, facilitates the bidding process, which puts between 60,000 and 75,000 pieces in the mail annually. For the past three years, she has used the same direct marketing vendor for acquisition. Each year, however, the museum issues an RFP, “usually to vendors we have worked with in the past on direct marketing or other projects.” When issuing RFPs, “the size of the project has dictated how many RFPs we put out. In most cases, we do not issue more than three RFPs,” Thomas notes. Many nonprofits might not engage in the RFP process quite so often. “We have had a direct mail program for approximately 20 years. During that time we have used five different direct marketing vendors,” said Alice Calabrese Smith, president and CEO of the Humane Society of Greater Rochester (N.Y.) and Lollypop Farm,which posted 369,000 pieces of mail last year. “Typically, if we are shopping for a new vendor it is to either increase response rates and/or save on mailing expenses.” Consultants Warwick and Peters think that using an RFP is a good idea.Warwick suggested that RFPs request a standard format for responses so that managers can easily compare apples to apples when evaluating the different companies. Calabrese Smith suggested that at a bare minimum, the RFP should require: • Samples of previous work; • Results of previous mailings for like clients (cost per dollar raised, percent return, percent return of list groups); • Processes for selecting mailing lists; • Processes for data screening and deduping; and, • Frequency of running lists through the National Change of Address system To their own detriment, however, nonprofits can diminish the proposal process, spinning their wheels for no apparent benefit, according to Peters. “Nonprofits are issuing more RFPs than they used to, but sometimes these RFPs are both perfunctory and illusory. The charity’s decision unfortunately has been made before the RFP is even issued,” he emphasized. “Such a meaningless process only does the charity and competing businesses a disservice.” THAT’S IN YOUR WALLET? Thomas said that price is, of course, a leading determinant in the Saint Louis Art Museum’s choices for direct marketing vendors.This criterion is likely paramount for every nonprofit across the board. Despite the laser-like focus on money, sins of omission during the proposal evaluation process can be quite costly. Warwick warned against what he terms “misleading” fee structures, including tack- BRANDING Continued from page 9 that the American Red Cross has multiple programs that display one brand.“The Red Cross isn’t promoting those programs as sub-brands because the unifying perception is stressed,” she said.“The image of the hammer with Habitat’s Women Build would seem more of a campaign or program.” Sometimes the distinction depends on whether separate groups with separate funding exist within the organization. “Is the affinity its own entity so it could fit into a sub-brand or co-brand is a question,” she said. Proctor & Gamble manages multiple stand-alone brands like Heinz and Folgers. “The parent company has done demo- graphic research to see who is looking at what and why -- that leads to whether to sub-brand or not,” she said. Does narrowing the brand or image of a mission become a problem? Pasternak pointed to the brand of Volvo as going beyond cars.“The brand is about safety and the extension leads to cars,” she said.“The site shows how the core of the business is about people driving cars and wellness is part of the perception.” Organizations need to make sure that the brand connects with the emotional and rational aspect of such a perception. The March of Dimes aims for both a narrow and emotional branding. “Our biggest sub-brand is the Walk for Babies,” said Doug Staples, senior vice president of strategic marketing and communications for the March of Dimes in White Plains, N.Y. “Originally that was the Walk America.” The change occurred to help align the perception better for the mission, according to Staples. Another sub-brand is the TeamYouth program.“That is a sub-brand to an extent while the rest aren’t sub-brands,” he said. “The team page has a different look.Viewers still can link up with the main March of Dimes page.” Staples doesn’t see a need for another logo image with the sub-brands because the mother and child symbol retains a Developing And Measuring A Brand he hammer looks ready in the Women Build sub-brand of Habitat for Humanity’s branding strategy. The picture gives the impression of women striving to help. How does an organization find the right way to develop the brand? “Use market research by speaking to people,” said Mary Ann Rood, principal of the M.A. Rood Company, a strategic communications and branding firm in Chicago. “Find an intersection of the language spoken by the audience you want with the concept you have internally.” Focus groups could be one way. Rood favors a one-on-one approach to obtain a better feel for highly subjective types of information such as thoughts and feelings. Use Internet polling as a cost-effective way to reach people in a targeted audience. “See what the audience wants,” she said. “Find a believable and compelling language from the process to come up with a phrase.” Often a trouble spot for nonprofits is the perception that market research exists for branded products and that the process is very ex- T pensive. “Now the Internet has brought down the costs,” she said. Many organizations stumble the first time branding is tried, according to Rood. “Many times that happens because they didn’t talk to the outside audience,” she said. Rood explained that professional market research without a good audience or the best practices could end up providing information that leads to bad decisions. “Start first by looking deep into your board, and you might find a market research person,” she said. “With those skill sets you also have someone who knows the organization very well.” Use the Internet for content message testing. Work with a safety net by talking to people to develop the lines and images of a brand. Then test the plans. Build in the measurement techniques from the beginning to track how well the branding works. Measure how the audience responds to the budget through a post-brand market research. “Nonprofits should do that on a regular basis,” she said. “Go to the audience to ask, ‘how are we doing,’ and people will take the time.” — TOM POPE major name recognition.“We’re putting 70 percent of the emphasis on that and 30 on the sub-brand.” The sub-brand for March for Babies relies on the tag as the event name and a call to action. “We might have more of a slogan for Signature Chefs Auction as a theme or one that is locally connected so we have flexibility for the grassroots level,” he said. Avoid diluting the sub-brand when using tag lines by thinking of a connecting language. The use of March of Dimes, March for Babies helps the tie-in to the parent brand. “Sub-brands could play an important role if they are thoughtful and exist in harmony with the overall strategy,” Staples said. Rood considers slogans important that are quick and a telegraphic way to grab attention. “Tag lines for a campaign work if they are short, memorable with stopping power, and stay with the listener,” she said. “For example, one that evokes visualization is,‘Just Do It’ -- you can see what will happen.” Branding is a huge opportunity for nonprofits to expand, according to Rood. “This isn’t just for products -- it’s an organizational principle that breaks down barriers as a tool,” she said. Jones mentioned that for 30 years he had been a consumer of a parish ministry service.“The service or program offered in the nonprofit world is a product,” he said. “The word goes beyond the image of a supermarket item because we’re producing a service that will attract people or not.” NPT Tom Pope, a New York City-based journalist, writes on management issues. MAY 15, 2008 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com http://www.nptimes.com

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The NonProfit Times - May 15, 2008 Tying Multiple Sub-Brands To The Primary Idea Executive Session: Giving The Donor The Chance To Say Yes Blogging From The Top Contents Striking The Best Deal Don't Be Fooled Immigrants And Philanthropy Bringing In The Dough Good And Bad Organizational Evaluation Design Your Message You’ve Got Mail? Hybrid Power Calendar NPT Jobs Resource Directory

The NonProfit Times - May 15, 2008

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