Big Direct Mail for Small

ShopsReaching 20 to 20,000 donors

without losing your mind

About usRosie BlankenshipAlso a journalism major. Also not a math major.

Annual Giving• 76,397 DM pieces

in four+ mailings annually• 64,000 magazines• a few thousand invitations• a few thousand newsletters• a few dozens of proposals

Donor database• 5,368 donors last FY• About 9,130 current donors

(gift within last three years)• About 2,667 lapsed

(last gift 3-5 years ago)• 100,952 in database (living)

Bethany WarnerJournalism major.Not a math major.

Annual Giving• 6,000 DM pieces in four

annual mailings• 20,000 newsletter copies (paper and

electronic) • Invitations• Proposals

Donor database• ~1,400 donors last FY• 10,000+ records in database

GoalOur goal isn’t to talk about how to write

the perfect direct mail letter.

• We want you to think about how to get your perfect letters into the hands of the right recipients.

• Then, track & report to guide future mailings.

SegmentationSending different letters

to different groups of people.

Why?• Saves money• Increases income• Mail fewer

people, better response

• Donors feel more connected

Mal Warwick says …• Sending all of your

mailings to your whole list is a tragic mistake.

• Targeted mailings save time and increase income.

• Pay the most attention to the segments that are the most faithful in giving: o long-term annual donorso higher-end donors

Ways to segment• By amount• By last gift date• By volunteer

status/type• By constituency

o business typeo event attendeeo board membero program interests

• By generation,

location or other demographic

• By giving statuso New (second gift ask)o Lapsedo Donors who downgraded

giving

Segment by gift amount

• By actual amount• By grouping

amounts• By increasing last

gift by a % and rounding

Donor gave $50 last year

You will ask for $75 this year.

Everyone who gave $50-100 last year gets asked for $150 this year.

Three donors gave $25, $40, $60 last year, respectively.

You want to apply a 25% increase across the board for asks.

This results in asks of $31.25, $50, $75.

You will round to $35, $50, $75.

(Thanks, Excel!)

Segment by last gift date

• Current donors o Those whose last gift was in the past year (2014)

• Almost current donorso Those who gave the previous year (2013), but not last year (traditional

LYBUNT)

• Lapsed donorso Those who gave in 2012

• Long-lapsed donorso Those who gave in 2010-2011

Segment by geography

By amount

Photos from three program sites, sent to donors in the same region as the site. This was a very inexpensive insert, as we color copied these!

Segment by interestEnd of year mailing: alpaca segment

Reused flyer, included response form

Photos were repurposed from website

Stories repurposed from blog

Letterhead & carrier envelope standard

Boring response envelope!

Everything coded

Segment by interestEnd of year mailing:

A/B split and other donor segments

Nearly identical letter for other three segments

Standard carrier, response (form printed on envelope)

A/B split• $50-150 giving

history• A asked for “a gift”• B asked for $175

Donor segment asked for “a gift”

All coded (four segments total)

ResultsAlpaca segment has outperformed all expectations.

Donors in segment have — so far — increased their total giving over last FY by 22%

This interest segment for EOY 2013 and 2014• 43% of donors increased giving over last year• Increased $$$ given by 9.07%

For alpaca campaign:• Same donors increased giving by 92% over previous FY• Response rate down compared to last time interest segment received a

mailing (1.55% in December 2014; 2.95% in June 2014)• But income up by 3½ times!• Bigger gifts (because DM set $$$)• And … the big news …

campaign overall increased by FIVE TIMES the previous FY

Messaging• Simple or complicated?• One or two personalized lines• Personalized ask• Entirely different letters for

different segments• Continue the “story”

of how you spent their money from their last gift

How can one person make this happen?

• Keeping good data on constituents• Clean database• Spreadsheets! • Mail merge

expertise• Or a great

mail house/or great staff

• …and PLAN AHEAD

IndyPL Foundation: How we get it done

• Mostly in house for all mailingso Outsourced envelopes because of time

• Write, route, printo Every piece of the mailing goes through other eyes

The mailing calendarStart Date End Date Item Staff Member Status Notes Project

13-Oct Draft Letter BKW Nov FOL15-Oct IAA update BKW Esends

17-Oct Letter to Laura BKW/LW Nov FOL22-Oct Approval from Bryce BKW/BB Nov FOL

8-Oct 22-Oct Write Imagine Content BKW Dec Imagine27-Oct Pull November FOL Mailing list J P/BKW Nov FOL27-Oct C lean up mailing list J P Nov FOL27-Oct Segment list BKW Nov FOL15-Oct 29-Oct Write Legacy Content BKW Legacy 27-Oct 29-Oct Route Mailing list BKW/LW/RKJ Nov FOL30-Oct Imagine draft to Laura BKW/LW Dec Imagine30-Oct Sort list for mailing J P Nov FOL31-Oct Envelopes to Inkwell J P Nov FOL27-Oct 31-Oct November book sale reminder BKW Esends3-Nov 4-Nov Draft/Route Remit Form ALL Nov FOL4-Nov 5-Nov IAA update BKW esends4-Nov 5-Nov Approval from Danny BKW/DD Nov FOL6-Nov Legacy draft to Roberta BKW/RKJ Legacy 6-Nov 7-Nov Print Remit backs J P Nov FOL6-Nov 10-Nov Route Imagine to staff all Dec Imagine

11-Nov 13-Nov send Imagine to donors for approvalBKW Dec Imagine13-Nov Route Legacy to staff all Legacy 14-Nov Envelopes back J P/BKW Nov FOL17-Nov 18-Nov Print remit fronts J P Nov FOL17-Nov 19-Nov send Legacy to donors for approval BKW Legacy 18-Nov imagine proof to Dynamark BKW Dec Imagine19-Nov 20-Nov Print letters J P Nov FOL21-Nov Mailing Party ALL Nov FOL24-Nov Legacy proof to KI Brands BKw Legacy 24-Nov Pull Imagine mailing list J P/BKW Dec Imagine24-Nov 26-Nov Imagine e-send version BKW Dec Imagine

3-Dec Imagine mails BKW Dec ImagineNovember FOL esend BKW Nov FOL

8-Dec Legacy mails BKW Legacy 16-Dec IAA Update BKW esends

The MAGIC of spreadsheets

• Learn how to use Excel (or similar)• Database can do a lot; Excel will do the rest• Google is your friend

ConcatenateLet’s you combine multiple cells

with additional information

If/then

RoundRound, Roundup, Mround, Ceiling, Floor

– rounding functions

Tracking• Have a plan in advance!• Is data entry person on board?• Code your letters, envelopes, response

cardsThis can be part of the merged data, too.

• To make life easiest: use your database’s default processes and settingso Appeals and Packageso A/B splitso Attributes

• Plan where all response fields will be tracked — better future!

ResultsFriends of the Library

YTD Report as of December 31, 2013 Overview Year Year @

February 13 Year @ July 9

Year @ Nov. 11

Year @ Dec. 31

Amount Budgeted

2012 $16,769 $35,894 $59,046 $90,447 $94,500 2013 $19,917 $38,140 $64,078 $102,007 $111,200 % Change 19% 6% 9% 13% % of budget 18% 34% 58% 92% Gift Distribution Year Number of Gifts YTD Average Gift Size YTD 2012 866 $104.44 2013 859 $118.75

New Donors (includes all funds, appeals and first time pledges; Staff Campaign & IAA silent auction removed) Year # new

donors YTD Total given by new donors

New Donors of < $5,000

# of Mem/Tri gifts

New gifts w/o mem/tri

2012 124 $121,697 $50,197 45 ($7,218) $42,979 2013 229 $67,679.15 $40,841 101 ($6,932) $33,909

• Check in with your results often(don’t wait till November)

• Adapt(When you need new results, do something different)

• Find a report form that works for your organization

Evaluating Effectiveness

• Review responses of same donors from one appeal to nexto Comparative report, screened by appeal

• A/B results – random sample of same group, same mailing, only one change

• Look at package responses• Appeals analysis – comparing

multiple appeals

Thank you!

Find more information online at:

rosieblankenship.com/brownbag

Email us at:bwarner@indyplfoundation.org

rblanken@spsmw.org