2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
THE FUTURE
IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
Everything you need to
know to create a
winning multi-channel direct
response strategy
Cathy Finney, The Wilderness Society
Jessica Harrington, Schultz & Williams
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Agenda
I.
First things first (the boring stuff)
 Six unexciting things every
fundraiser must do
II. Campaign planning (the fun stuff)
III. Questions
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
The boring stuff …
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Before you begin….
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
#1: Think
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Understand your
organization’s priorities…
 Tell the world about your cause
 Effect change at the policy level
 Build a major gift program to fund large
initiatives
 Create corporate relationships
 Improve watchdog ratings
 Revenue goals
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Decide how direct response
can support those priorities…





Leading source of unrestricted revenue?
Feeder program for major/planned gifts?
Community of advocates?
Large grassroots base of support?
Key marketing resource?
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Important things to think about as you
go into your planning stage:
External
 Leadership changes
 Anniversaries
 Galas
 Capital Campaigns
 Upcoming milestones, highlights or threats
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Important things to think about as you
go into your planning stage:
Internal
 Where you’ve been, where you are and
where you need to be
 What’s working/what’s NOT
 Have you really created an integrated multichannel strategy in the past?
 How efficient has your plan been?
 What resources do you have? Do you
need?
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
#2: Analyze...
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Your market
 Benchmark against competitors
 Identify areas where you can improve
 Set growth goals
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Your constituent base
 Understand your key performance
indicators
Donor churn
Retention
Upgrade/downgrades
Gift stratification
Donor types
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Your channels
 Trends on channel effectiveness
 Is one channel better than another at acquiring
donors? Renewing? Upgrading? Bringing on
sustainers?
 Should you redirect any resources toward
other channels?
 Are there new channels you can
test/investigate?
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Your campaigns
 Individual campaign performance
 Long-term trends
 Seasonality
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
#3: Prioritize!
 How can your
program support the
overall organizational
priorities?
 What specific goals
do you have for the
direct marketing
program?
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
#4: Set goals!
 Reach for the stars, but
keep your feet on the
ground
 Develop multiple
scenarios, but don’t
share them all
 Make sure your budget
is based in reality
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
#5: Allocate your budget
accordingly
 You do have a budget, don’t you?
 Have you been told what it is? Or do you have
the ability to build it?
 Are you working with limited resources? (We
all are.)
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Caging/Cashiering,
4%
Analytics/Research,
2%
Database, 3%
“Slush Fund”, 1%
Budget Allocation
Agency, 3%
Creative, 3%
Telemarketing,
10%
Print, 24%
Direct Mail, 60%
Lettershop, 9%
Lists, 3%
Online, 20%
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
Postage, 18%
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
#6: Create a testing plan
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Create a two-tiered testing
plan
 Priority 1 – improving metrics on your
donor base
 Priority 2 – understanding your donor
base and organization better
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Cathy and Jessica’s Top Eight
Testing Pet Peeves…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Testing that’s not actionable
Testing for the sake of testing
Tests that win, but are never implemented
Forgotten tests
Statistically irrelevant testing
Tests that are never challenged
Not setting up a control group
Only testing creative and technique
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Now you’re ready for the
fun stuff…
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
A few things to think
about:
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Quarterly themes
 Align with organizational priorities
We’re not driving the bus here!
To the extent that we can, align with
organizational messaging priorities
 Should be donor-centered
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
At The Wilderness Society…
 Messaging alignment with organizational priorities
and leadership has been non-existent
 Gradually testing into language which is consistent
across all TWS communications
 Created an outline of themes for the year and
work hand in hand with marketing/comms to
develop messaging
 Q1: Strategic Framework/Congress
 Q2: Go Outside and Play
 Q3: Energy
 Q4: Landscapes/Legacy
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Time to build your plan….
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Start with your themes…
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Lay out campaigns…
 Begin with what’s known: Pillar campaigns &
successful techniques:
Matching Gift
Annual Fund or special campaigns
Renewals/Series
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Lay out campaigns…
 Add in campaigns to match your themes
 Add in acquisition
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Lay out campaigns…
 Add in comprehensive email campaigns
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Lay out campaigns…
 Layer in specialty programs
 Add stewardship
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Put in your audiences…
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Add in channels
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
PLAN!
Here’s an example
of a January
schedule…
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
PLAN!
And an example from
August…
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Don’t forget to add in general
online promotions…
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Check your work …
 Do these campaigns support the donor
life cycle?
 Are your campaigns going to meet their
revenue goals?
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Recap
 Plan the plan:
Think about internal and external
opportunities and challenges
 Analyze
 Prioritize
 Set goals
 Allocate budget
 Create a testing plan
 Build out campaigns
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS
2013 WASHINGTON NONPROFIT CONFERENCE
Thank You!
Multi-Channel Planning
Cathy Finney
The Wilderness Society
Jessica Harrington
Schultz & Williams
THE FUTURE IS NOW
STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMS