The NonProfit Times - December 15, 2007 - (Page 9)

Executive Session Continued from page 7 Then we had this chunk of 13- to 24-month names.They still hadn't given, and in huge numbers. So I started to go back and say, "What's going to happen here?" The end result was that at our peak we had recovered 85 cents of that dollar and then every mailing after that we started going downhill. What we were doing was building a huge inactive file, thinking that while it was losing money in prospecting, that the response rate was great. And, we were losing our shirts.What the data did was allow us to see that we were globally going in the wrong direction. Those of us who studied the data said, "We need to strategically change – and this afternoon." Mr. Mally: It's the information that we have available today at our fingertips on our desktop that makes us valuable and helps us to argue for more investment dollars in our program, and helps us to strategize with our vendors in even smarter ways. We're really talking about strategizing through analysis, hopefully of past success unless it's a start-up mailer. It’s executing that mailing, Stephen Mally analyzing the results, collecting the right data on the constituents so that you can analyze the results, and then planning, analyzing, executing that all over again, so it's a full circle, non-stop full circle. Ms. O’Neill: There seems to still be those invisible or visible walls between what we call low-dollar and major gift. And yet, what you're talking about and what I know we can do with the technology, with the partnerships with our vendors, and with the creativity, is closing that gap. We don't have to think only in terms of $10, $25, $50 and then $5,000 either by program or departmentally. Ms. Finney: The shift, though, needs to come within the organization in that case. Many organizations -- and Brian,I don't see this as much with you as I've seen particularly in the organizations that I've worked at -- have these set up. Membership goes here, mid-level giving goes here, major gifts go to development, and nobody's talking in between. Everybody has their own internal budget goals that need to be made. A donor doesn't understand that if they give $1,500 it's going into one revenue bucket, but if they give $125 it's going into a completely separate bucket. It's not important for them to know that – nor should they. They're supporting the organization because of the organization's mission, and that's the ultimate goal. Mr. Gaffny: It really comes down to the organization defining the mission of their donor cultivation program. Mr. Christ: The Internet has different metrics but the same dynamic.We do a lot of two-step fundraising online. One of the things we've found online is that you can generate a lot of petition signatures, survey results, and so forth, and collect those email addresses.And with a lot of work, you can get a decent percentage of them to become donors on the next page -- on the thank you page. It could be 5 percent. I've seen as high as 12 percent. Sometimes you can actually prospect at breakeven or a profit online if you can get that number up. But you've still got 85, 90, 95 percent of the new names you acquired who aren't donors, who've already rejected two asks -- one was on the page after they submitted the petition, signature, or the survey, and the other was in the email because we don't The World's BEST Fundraisers harities in the United States raised $260 billion during 2005 and there is every indication that 2006 was at least as good. The American public stands up when asked in the right way by skilled fundraising professionals. And while that $260 billion is more money than the gross domestic product of some small countries, there are some standouts in the fundraising industry in the United States and across the globe. That’s why the spotlight is trained on the people honored in this second annual World’s Best Fundraisers. Editors of The NonProfit Times talk to thousands of fundraisers every year. We also sought suggestions from those in the industry regarding who should be honored.These people and organizations are doing things on the cutting edge.That means that they might not be raising the most money – yet. But, they are testing new paths for philanthropy. “People wanted to be active in the cause all year long, so they would sponsor races around the country but wanted to take it to an in-store presence, not only to expand the revenue they could raise but also the educational message reach,” she said. The foundation receives millions of dollars in cause marketing-related contributions, with many annual guarantees in the six figures.But not all of the partners are active at the same time, Drake said, adding that about half of the sponsors have programs yearround while others do them for three, six or nine months. The foundation’s New Business Committee examines proposals received from potential partners, which number 50 a month on average and more in the fall, around Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. “We have a pretty extensive process where we vet proposals that come in from partners that are interested in working with us,” Drake said.The committee looks “at everything from the reach of the program -Best Fundraisers, page 10 CAUSE MARKETING ■ Susan G. Komen Foundation Everything from green tea to M&M’s By Mark Hrywna If the strategy to diversify is as important to cause marketing as it is to a stock portfolio, the Susan G. Komen Foundation is in great shape.The foundation’s Race for the Cure started with a few sponsors more than a quarter century ago. Today, the Dallas-based nonprofit has nearly 130 cause marketing partners from a variety of industries, including hotels, food, soft drinks, apparel and telecommunications. It’s like a mutual fund of cause marketing partners that’s expected to raise $35 million when everything is totaled for 2006. Whether it’s Pier 1 Imports donating 25 percent of each $14 candle,Sip for the Cure products from The Republic of Tea, or 35 cents from every 14-ounce package of pink M&M’s, it’s all adding up. The cause marketing program evolved from the Race for the Cure sponsorships, said Katrina Drake, director of cause-related marketing at the foundation. just thank them in the email after they signed their petition. We asked them "and would you please make a gift?" The good news is you can get 5 to 10 to 15 percent of people right away to make the gift.The bad news is that other 85 or 90 or 95 percent.Trying to get 1 percent out of them in the next email is a lot of work. Mr. Mally: Well, my guess is that some organizations collect certain pieces of information -- collect that information and probably don't maintain it or key it in. Mr. Christ: People don't give to our organization, they give through our organization.They don't give to us because we have needs. They give to us because we meet needs. The best email I ever wrote was in the Niger famine crisis that captured our nation's attention for about 90 days between when it first hit the news and when Katrina struck New Orleans. And in that time frame, I had a client who said, "Yeah, we're in this business but we can't find the right people.We can't get past the national boundaries." And then all of a sudden, it broke. He forwarded three emails that came from the field through our national embassy there, because there's not a lot of THE NONPROFIT TIMES Starbucks in Niger. So these things came to me and he said, "Can you make an email out if it?" And I looked at it and I said, "It is the appeal." I edited it just because there were some grammatical issues. I didn't want to embarrass this guy by publishing his spelling errors, but that's really all I did. I wove them together as a forward from the chairman. "I just got this email from the field.This is what we're able to do. Can you give?" It stated the case far better than copy could ever have. Ms. Finney: What you said is so accurate.As we're seeing donors make larger investments in a fewer number of organizations.What they want is more information from us about what we're doing.The more that we have consistent messages from different outlets from the organization matching up, the more it will lead to more committed donors and to healthier giving. It might be from somebody in the field sending the same message as you might get from reading something online, as you might get from a newsletter that comes from the organization. NPT For the full text of this conversation, go to www.nptimes.com and click on Executive Session. DECEMBER 15, 2007 www.nptimes.com http://www.nptimes.com http://www.nptimes.com

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The NonProfit Times - December 15, 2007 Say Hello To 2008, Kissin’ Cousin of 2007 Scandal Ensnares Red Cross CEO Contents Nonprofits Getting A Second Lease On Life Hot Nonprofit Auctions Is It $10, $25 or $100? The World’s Best Fundraisers Turbo-Charged Web Use Help Wanted: 640,000 Open Positions Focus On Community Impact Has United Ways Changing Donor Migration - North Putting That Spark In Your Script NPT Jobs Resource Directory

The NonProfit Times - December 15, 2007

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