If you are seeking to increase the number of your charity's supporters then stop blogging or tweetering for a minute and pay attention to this useful nugget of information:
Market research on consumer behaviour conducted by Mintel, reveals that 34% of Internet users in the US who bought a product or service based on a recommendation got that tip from a friend or relative, while 25% of purchasers based their decision on advice from a spouse or partner. And only, 5% of them made a purchase as a result of reading a blog.
In other words, for today's consumers the word of mouth recommendation by a friend or relative (59%) remains much highly rated than recommendations by strangers through blogs or chat rooms (10%).
Isn't it interesting to see that despite of spending a great deal of time online people still prefer recommendations by those we know and trust.
What is the relevance of this information for your charity and your work?
Well, if as consumers people like to recommend products to their friends and relatives then as donors they are probably willing to recommend your charity to them as a great cause to support.
So, what can you do to get your present donors enthusiastic about your cause and turn them into your ambassadors in their local community, church, home group or work place...?
Here are three key questions:
1. What do you think are the best things that donors love about your charity or your cause?
2. How does involvement in your work make them feel?
3. How can you help your most delighted donors to recommend your work to their friends and relatives and enlist support for your cause?
Any suggestions.... I for a start will begin to think how I can spread the word about my favourite causes to my friends and see what happens.. I promise to let you know.
Monday 29 June 2009
Friday 5 June 2009
As social media fundraising steals the attention of fundraisers does this mean that printed communications are a dying breed?
These days one of the questions I am often asked by clients and participants at our McConkey Johnston’s fundraising workshops is: Is now the time to do more online communications and less printed mailings?
My honest answer is: ‘No not yet. Not in the foreseeable future’
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying here that if donors are asking you to send them e-mail newsletters and updates instead of printed ones you should ignore their request. Neither am I saying that charities should not use online communications to strengthen their relationships with supporters.
What I am saying here is that direct mail fundraising and other printed communications are not dead! As a matter of fact, newsletters, donor renewal packages and fundraising appeals when crafted carefully with the right dose of creativity and inspiration can produce great results. Results generated by several of our clients can testify to this even in the middle of the recession.
What’s more, I constantly find that new donors acquired through direct mail are more likely to make second and third contributions to a cause compared to new donors acquired through social media fundraising tools. The bottom line is that some fundraisers and many CEO’s get so excited about online communications which potentially can be easier, faster and cheaper in the long run. But, they seem to overlook the fact that if they not getting good returns from their printed communications they are not going to get great results from online ones either.
In such cases the problem is not with the communication channel but with the lack of a proper fundraising plan, ineffective donor segmentations, boring copy, lack of compelling ask … and the list can go on.
So before cutting your printed publications budget and investing heavily in a new website and other online communications tools and initiatives take time to review your overall strategy, map out your donor cultivation cycles, get useful insights from your database, examine your cause concepts, revitalise your brand and refresh your copy. Having done all this you would be ready to integrate online and offline communications channels for profitable fundraising.
My honest answer is: ‘No not yet. Not in the foreseeable future’
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying here that if donors are asking you to send them e-mail newsletters and updates instead of printed ones you should ignore their request. Neither am I saying that charities should not use online communications to strengthen their relationships with supporters.
What I am saying here is that direct mail fundraising and other printed communications are not dead! As a matter of fact, newsletters, donor renewal packages and fundraising appeals when crafted carefully with the right dose of creativity and inspiration can produce great results. Results generated by several of our clients can testify to this even in the middle of the recession.
What’s more, I constantly find that new donors acquired through direct mail are more likely to make second and third contributions to a cause compared to new donors acquired through social media fundraising tools. The bottom line is that some fundraisers and many CEO’s get so excited about online communications which potentially can be easier, faster and cheaper in the long run. But, they seem to overlook the fact that if they not getting good returns from their printed communications they are not going to get great results from online ones either.
In such cases the problem is not with the communication channel but with the lack of a proper fundraising plan, ineffective donor segmentations, boring copy, lack of compelling ask … and the list can go on.
So before cutting your printed publications budget and investing heavily in a new website and other online communications tools and initiatives take time to review your overall strategy, map out your donor cultivation cycles, get useful insights from your database, examine your cause concepts, revitalise your brand and refresh your copy. Having done all this you would be ready to integrate online and offline communications channels for profitable fundraising.
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