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How to Make Money with Direct Mail
Tom AhernNovember 10, 2017 ~ NP Storytelling Conference
Major donors often start as “minor” donors. “When Harvard did a study after their last campaign, of their 254 million-dollar donors, 2 out of 3 started with first-time gifts of $100 or less.” ~ Jerry Panas, 2017
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Jeff Schreifels and Richard PerryThe Critical Role of Storytelling in Major Gift Success
“Online Giving Reaches Record High in 2016 [at 7.2% of all giving across US]”
~ Blackbaud, Feb 22, 2017
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John Haydon Go Tell It on the Mountain -Storytelling Across Different Social Media Channels
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10. What’s the best length for a fundraising letter?
[ ] 1 page[ ] 2 pages[ ] 4 pages
Free, downloadable PDF e-book, 20 Questions: www.AHERNCOMM.com
5© 2017 Tom Ahern
Free, downloadable PDF e-book, 20 Questions: www.AHERNCOMM.com
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The following 1-page letter was written by a volunteer with zero experience. It raised $55,926 for
a small-town library.
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SPOT THE STORIES!
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Why us?What are we doing that’s so uniquely wonderful that the
world should want more of it and support our new plans?1
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Why us?
Why us?
Why us?
Story #1
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Why us?
Why us?
Why us?
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Why now?What’s the big hurry?
What changed? Why is this URGENT?2
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Why now?
Why now?
Why now?
Story #2
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Why now?
Why now?
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Why you,the donor, might care?3
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Why donor cares? “I’m needed.”
Why donor cares? “I’m needed.”
Story #3
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Why donor cares? “I’m needed.”
Why donor cares? “I’m needed.”
Why donor cares? “It’s mine.”
Why donor cares? “I can honor someone.” Greed.
Offer
Offer
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Offer
“Donors are staggeringly ignorant of the causes they support.”--Richard Radcliffe
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DONORS MAY BE IGNORANT, but what they
DO have in abundance are their own
personal values, interests, beliefs,
connections, experiences, upbringing, lost
loves, secret passions, regrets, fears,
angers, hopes, and built-in empathy
[except for psychopaths]...
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Connect with what’s already in
their heads!
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Inside this envelope ...one of our town’s darkest secrets
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Sales in a nutshell
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Source: Jeff Brooks, 2014
The writing part
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The Golden Mantra of marketing
The right offerin front of the right personat the right time...
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“Humans are driven by a will to establish meaning in their lives. They need purpose.”
That’s your real job, in donor communications:to bestow purpose in exchange for support.
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Source: Neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, via the For Impact blog
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Realization
“...the key motivator for giving is not need, but opportunity.” AKA an “offer” or “proposition.”
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“Makeablindmansee.£100”
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HaroldSumption,quotedin101fundraisingbyGilesPegram,2/17
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Offer
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GIVE me a big job!
Offer
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A membership offer
Corny on purpose
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[on the bottom of page 4...]
Offer #2
Offer #1
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Your reply device is an offer: Does it re-inspire?
© 2017 Tom Ahern 34SUBSCRIBE Source: Network for Good
WARM
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Do you really need my help?
Where’d the cute kid go?
Is monthly giving preferred? (Should
be!)
This looks like a form...yuck.
COLD
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What it takes to raise $45,000 in gifts in just 3 weeks ... from an untried pool of a few thousand.
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SPOT THE STORIES!
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XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
XYZ Organization123 Sweeping StreetYour town, CT 01234
Ms. Jane Smith567 Main StreetYour town, CT 01234
STAND OUT
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CHALLENGE ME
Story #1
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Oh, and by the way...
Inertia is the real enemy. Tell people exactly what
you want them to do.
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Clear instructions
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Personalization
Emotional trigger
Not coy: Asks up front
Clear rationale: i.e., why do we need your help?
“...survives...”? Emotional trigger: “Loss aversion”
Connects 2 dots: gifts & existence
Story #2
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The underlines get read 1st
The underlines get read 1st
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The underlines get read 1st
The underlines get read 1st
The underlines get read 1st
Story #3
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The theme never quits
Story #4
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Why did this letter exceed?
The offer.Great offer.
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The donor kept a beloved place open for a day.
4 elements of a good offerThe problem is easy to understand.The solution is easy to understand.The cost is a good deal.There’s urgency to solve the problem now.
The story is not the offer. The story supports the offer.
Steven Screen, Nonprofit Storytelling Conference, November 2015
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The (magical) Tangible story
formula
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visionenemyhero
servedSource: Stephen Pidgeon and Tangible
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“Me?”
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Enemy
Hero
Served
Vision
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“Membership jumped by more than 20% with just one mailing. We added almost 300 new members.”
Minnesota nature lover’s group
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[a successful appeal...]
It originates as a humble stream at a small woodland lake in our state. And it gets its first full taste of what humans can do to abuse a waterway when it hits the Twin Cities, where, for well over a century it served as an industrial sewer, made utterly devoid of life.
With your help, we can heal that abuse.
As a new Friend, you join a family of conservationists, anglers, kayakers, hikers, environmental worry-warts and futurists who share one big dream ...
... to restore the river to its original state, including its prairie and floodplain habitats. And to make it safe and accessible for recreation.
Enemy
Hero
Served
Vision
“Find a common enemy.”
“[This was] some of the first feedback I received as a newbie copywriter, and I never forgot it.” Lisa Sargent, Feb 2017
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Source: Pareto, 2015
Writing tips
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11. Which message attracted more gifts from Americans with a yearly income of $90,000+?
[ ] “Let’s Save a Life Together.”[ ] “You = Life-Saver.”
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11. Which message attracted more gifts from Americans with a yearly income of $90,000+?
[ ] “Let’s Save a Life Together.”[X] “You = Life-Saver.”
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Sometimes it’s simple: for schools, “Annual Fund” on envelope works
Source: Jeff Brooks/Steven Screen, Fundraising is Beautiful podcast, March 2017
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YOUR SMIT?Single Most Important Thing I have to
say to you today
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DEFAULT DM OPENING:
I’m writing to you today because...
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Indirect ask
Direct ask
Direct ask
Indirect ask
Indirect ask
Indirect ask
Indirect ask
Indirect ask63© 2017 Tom Ahern
Indirect ask
Direct ask
Indirect ask
Indirect ask
Direct ask
Indirect ask
Indirect ask
Direct ask
16 asks in 2 pages ... NOT a record64© 2017 Tom Ahern
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“All fundraising copy should sound like someone talking.”
-- George Smith
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“Now if the first sentence is so important, what can you do to make it so compelling to read, so simple, and so interesting that your readers—every one of them—will read it in its entirety? The answer:
“Make it short.”~ Joseph Sugarman
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Dear Jane Doe,
Welcome ... I hope.
I’m writing today to request the pleasure of your acquaintance.
There’s a place reserved for you on The Rhode Island Foundation’s mailing list ... but only if you agree and check, “Yes, I’m interested” on the enclosed reply card.
You’ll be in good company, that I can promise.
[etc.]
Throw out the first few paragraphs. They’re
usually warm up.
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AngerDutyExclusivityFearFlatteryGreedGuiltHopeSalvation
Common emotional triggers
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Sue the bastards.
Writer: Roger Craver
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Neuroscience says…
“Coming across new information triggers a chemical reaction that makes us feel good, which in turns causes us to seek out even more of it.”Source: Wall Street Journal article by Lee Gomes, on USC neuroscientist, Dr. Irving Biederman; published March 12, 2008
Direct Mail | © 2017 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com 74
Dear Jane Sample,
Our doctors call it “Day Zero.”
It’s the day you come back from the dead.
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“Mom was wrong. Research shows that even when people perceive that flattery is insincere, that flattery can still leave a lasting and positive impression of the flatterer.”
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St. Jude’s language
• “I can never thank you enough”• “Because of you”• “Thanks to your support”• “Thanks to friends like you”• “The support of friends like you”
Source: Pam Grow
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Donor-NEGLIGENT:“We did this. We did that. We were amazing. Oh, by the way, thanks.”
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Donor-CENTRIC:“With your help, all these amazing things happened. And without your help, they won’t.”
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“YOU” IS GLUE.It sticks people to the page.
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The story’s about the donor...every time someone donates to a good cause, they're buying a story, a story that's worth more than the amount they donated.
It might be the story of doing the right thing, or fitting in, or pleasing a friend or honoring a memory, but the story has value.
For many, it's the story of what it means to be part of a community.
Source: Seth Godin
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SUBSCRIBE
Give me a story to tellI sent thousandsof dollars worth of medicine to sick people!
I save a polar bear every
month!
I’m a decent person. I’m following the
Scriptures.
Source: Jeff Brooks and Mark Phillips©2017TomAhern 83
Direct Mail | © 2016 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com 84
FREE FOR YOUsofii.org
Jerry Huntsinger Tutorial #56:“Direct Mail Strategy for the Small Organization”
85
Myfreehow-toe-newsletter…www.aherncomm.com
© 2017 Tom Ahern
I subscribe!