AFP First Coast Wednesday, July 20, 2016 Jennifer Russ, CFRE Vice President and Consultant Multichannel Programs All material in this presentation, including text and images, is the property of Ruffalo Noel Levitz. Permission is required to reproduce information. 1
Ruffalo Noel Levitz Passion, Results, Integrity Technology enabled services, software and consulting for higher education enrollment management and fundraising Clients throughout US, Canada, Australia, UK and more Fundraising programs designed to cultivate, solicit and steward clients constituents Clients include colleges and universities, healthcare organizations, greek foundations, cultural organizations, faith based organizations, public broadcasting and more 2
My Background 18 years of development experience Focused on annual giving Joined RNL 2 years ago Previous organizations include: Augusta University and Augusta University Health, University of Florida and UF Health, National Kidney Foundation Current RNL clients are a mix of large and mid-size universities, academic medical centers and health systems throughout the US (GA, FL, AL, TX, NM, UT, MN) Split time between home office and travel to clients 3
Objectives What is multichannel Direct Mail Phone Online, E-Communications and Crowdfunding Putting It All Together 4
What is Multichannel 5
Multichannel What is your optimal fundraising mix? 6
What is the optimal fundraising mix? Differs for every organization Focus on: Right audience Right timing Right sequencing Right ask strategies Right channels Right messages 7
Multichannel 8
Multichannel Messaging Speak with one, unified voice to donors and supporters Effective messaging showcase a compelling story with a clear call to action, tell donors what they are giving to and make it easy for people to give by check or online Use consistent messaging across channels to maximize impact 9
Multichannel Millenials and Genexers These donor groups present a unique challenge and opportunity Increased engagement in micro-giving to causes But also a tendency to give large donations to fewer recipients 47% of millennial alumni reported making a donation to their alma mater, but 75% of those alumni noted they would donate to other organizations before their alma mater* These donor segments demonstrate a strong focus on causes and a tendency to combine volunteerism with their primary charitable giving Social impact and acceptance are extremely important to these groups *Chronicle of Philanthropy, 2015 10
Multichannel Donor needs and preferences have changed producing diminishing results and the evolution of multichannel outreach reflects this trend Synchronizing donor outreach allows channels to build upon and compliment each other, leading to greater ROI 11
2Direct Mail 12
Direct Mail Direct mail works! It drives people to make digital donations 35% of donors say they prefer to respond to DM by giving online* 50% of millennials and GenXers (21-35 yrs and 36-50 yrs) 26% of Boomers (51-65 yrs) 14% of Greatest (66 yrs+) Your online presence is as important as your direct mail content Promote DM campaigns across multiple channels *MobileCause The Direct Mail Paradox, 2015 13
Direct Mail Personalize appeals using variable data Segment, Segment, Segment Test everything, but do it in a measurable way Have clear and concise call to action Thank donors, tell them what you did with their previous donation, showcase current need and ask for support again Consider postcards vs letters 14
Direct Mail Data and Data Enhancement Data quality drives success How clean is your data? Data research NCOA, lost address research, deceased research Targeted rental list acquisition? 15
Direct Mail Analyzing Results What should you track? What can you track? Tracking everything you can will give you data to make better strategic decisions 16
Direct Mail Research Postcards have the highest read rate of any direct mail according to the Direct Marketing Association Postcards were judged superior to email ads in 4 of 9 ad attributes measured: engagement time, emotional reaction, recall, and building subconscious desire for a product or service (according to a recent Temple University study comparing direct mail to digital ads) Bigger is better 5x7 aren t much more expensive than 4x6, but are 46% larger in total size Especially during an election year! 51% of households will have multiple readers compared to a letter sized envelope, at 1/3 of the price! 17
3Phone 18
Phone Phone works however it requires a larger commitment and investment It is a great for acquisition and reacquisition of those who haven t responded to less expensive channels Fulfillment plan is key to phone (30-60-90 vs. 15-30-45) Creative messaging consistent with other channels Training of callers Data enhancement (wireless ID, phone append, cell append) Ask structures Testing 19
Phone Robust phone programs Contact a variety of donors and prospects Canvas those donors at a high rate Carefully recruit and train callers Focus on key metrics like donor renewal, acquisition, upgrades and even second gifts Engage in thank you calls to donors for powerful stewardship Requires planning, investment and management with careful execution to maximize the connection and impact with donors Are in it for the long haul and consider the potential impact on total donor and dollar growth and dollar growth in all channels over time In the 2015 fiscal year, Ruffalo Noel Levitz phonathon programs at 600+ clients contacted nearly 4.6 million alumni, parents. donors and friends and received over $127 million in pledges. 20
Phone Stewardship guru, Penelope Burk tells us that a thank you call to a new donor can yield up to 40% more revenue in the second year through donor retention and upgrades. Timeline thank you calls when combined with other stewardship efforts can be a game changer, especially if it s a first gift, the next year for retention rates. 21
4Online, E-Communications and Crowdfunding 22
Online Online is an important channel for millennials and Gen X Create campaign specific landing pages for emails, direct mail, etc so that you can measure ROI, conversions, clicks, shares, etc 51% of web traffic is now on a mobile device 65% of nonprofits require 3 or more clicks to make a gift 73% of nonprofits do not offer social sharing Online gifts increased 9.2% from the previous year (Blackbaud 2015 Charitable Giving Report) Using trackable URLs for all online and offline solicitations is critical 23
E-Communications Email Solicitation Online Engagement Survey E-Newsletters Email Research Social Media Crowdfunding Keys: Messaging Ease of use Mobile ready Responsive Social media tie-ins 24
Crowdfunding What is crowdfunding? Technology tool to leverage donations from a broad base of supports online to fund specific projects Typically smaller donations from a larger number of people Scalefunder or other platforms: Indiegogo, Kickstarter, GoFundMe, CrowdRise, Fundly, Razoo, etc. What crowdfunding is not Not a magical cure Going to replace another channel If you build it they will come While crowdfunding does not constitute a complete development plan, no development plan is complete without crowdfunding. - Devin D. Thorpe, author of Crowdfunding for Social Good 25
Crowdfunding A recent Crowdfunding Industry Report outlined how the crowdfunding track record: $1.5 billion raised in 2011, $2.7 billion in 2012, and $5.1 billion in 2013. 17% of all crowdfunding gifts are made on a mobile device 51% of people who visit your website do so on a mobile device Responsive donation pages yield 34% more gifts than non-responsive pages because it is easy to give on any screen size Source: MobileCause 26
Crowdfunding What are the benefits of crowdfunding? Donors choose specific projects Donors become your messenger Constituents are enpowered Tailored stewardship opportunities How to choose a platform? How will the site look Ease of use All or nothing vs. keep what you raise Payment processing Fees set-up, maintenance or credit card processing fees Marketing and Social Networking Capabilities Current client success [Crowdfunding] is not good for building a tribe. It s good for leveraging a tribe. Seth Godin, The Icarus Deception 27
What makes a successful crowdfunding campaign? https://hornraiser.utexas.edu 1. Blends seamlessly with your online presence 2. Show the impact of gifts in real time 3. Make fundraising more personal 4. Harness the power of social media for fundraising 5. Integrate transactions with your payment systems 6. Set tiered impact giving levels and incentivize donations through perks 28
Crowdfunding http://agraiser.alphagammarho.org 29
Crowdfunding https://imagine.getyourgirlpower.org 30
Crowdfunding https://ignite.olemiss.edu 31
Giving Days Very similar to crowdfunding, but shorter term than crowdfunding 24+ hours versus 30+days In 2015, Giving Tuesday generated $116 million up from $46 million the year before Not all giving days are on Giving Tuesday. Many larger organizations are choosing dates that are meaningful to their organization or their constituents Use Challenge Gifts to help push donors to give Follow-up is key to retaining these donors Asking for a major donor s participation in an online celebration can be part of the solicitation process if your development operation has a truly comprehensive digital strategy. Justin Ware, VP for digital fundraising at ScaleFunder 32
Giving Days Top Tips Set up your giving day page quickly and easily using a dynamic tool with flexibility and real-time updates, not a static web page Activate, empower, and track ambassadors. Encourage and incentivize your ambassador base Create challenges, track matches, push social media posts, and email donors all through one easy-to-use platform Customize and optimize your brand from inception to stewardship. Integrate with your existing payment processor to create an optimized checkout process with donations that come straight to you Integrate with your online and crowdfunding presence so your digital presence is not just 24 hours, but a year-long conversation and relationship builder 33
Giving Days 34
Giving Days 35
5Putting It All Together 36
Multichannel Schedule integrate all channels in a way to make most impact Maximize Budget and ROI by targeting channels Explore constituent behavior through segmentation and tracking results Leverage data from results to make strategic decisions and program adjustments 37
Multichannel Blackbaud research shows: That multichannel communication targeted to offline direct response donors can yield an increase in retention rate of 7% or more That targeting multichannel communication to online donors can yield an offline donation response of more than 10% and an increase in 12 month donor value of more than 8% 38
Multichannel Testing Channel Maximization Subject lines, signers Appeal codes, unique URLs Reminder cycle How often are reminders being sent (monthly, weekly, daily) CRE vs BRE (non-donors or young donors) Content which stories resonate with donor more, does one have a stronger response? Head-to-Head Testing Web Links (what pages are you sharing?) Testing different pages does one story or design have a greater impact? Where is the Donate Now button? 39
Multichannel Multichannel programs provide strong annual support while building a pipeline of donors for larger gifts Include all donors unless a gift officer has them in a solicitation cycle Major donors give annual gifts and crowdfunding gifts too What s next?? Leveraging targeted social media advertising to reinforce solicitation channels 40
Multichannel 41
QUESTIONS? Thank you for your time! Jennifer Russ, CFRE Vice President and Consultant Jennifer.Russ@RuffaloNL.com Cell 352-359-1246 42