Empathetic. Donor-centric. Sympathetic. Your marketing communications are "ticking" along as they should be. But, as we’re all painfully aware, the right-side of the brain just loves piping in to talk about numbers, figures, trends and goals.

Instead of telling that portion of the brain to buzz off (as I often do), use it to create the fourth and final piece of your online fundraising plan: The Numbers. Below, check out our tips for getting a jump on mapping what your numbers look like now and what you hope they look like later:

Budget Tips:

• Planning to raise money online? Of course you are! Why else would you be developing an online fundraising plan? Be sure to build into your budget what you plan to spend for donation processing. For instance, you can check out our own Custom Donate Now service–great value for a price that won’t eat up your budget.
• Fixing up your website? Be realistic about the features you need versus the features you want. Set up your budget ahead of time, and don’t be distracted by shiny objects: your website is a tool and a resource, not a fireworks show. Learn how to spend your website dollars wisely and read great tips from a real pro and Nonprofit 911 presenter.
• Thinking about advertising? If you’re considering developing banner ads or other paid online outreach, remember to keep in mind the various items you’re paying for: design, development and placement costs.
• Hiring extra help? You may be planning to use the talents of a copywriter for your website or consultant to help you out. Those folks often like to get paid–go figure. And in planning this line item, do some brainstorming about how you might cut costs: Maybe a graphic designer (could be a student) will donate time or a communications intern can develop testimonials for your website.

Tracking, Benchmarking, Reporting Tips:

• Custom DonateNow. Are you a CDN customer? If so, don’t forget to log into your account to check out your donor reports. You can even track your campaigns by evaluating the tracking codes for different DonateNow buttons on your site and in your emails.
• Email messaging. Determine an evaluation schedule for monitoring your e-communications. Will you track the number of donors (past and new) directly tied to your email communications? Monitor giving levels of donors receiving your emails versus those who are not.
• Website traffic. Sign up for Google Analytics to evaluate site traffic. Work language into your online fundraising plan about how you will determine which content is most appealing and how you will increase visibility of that content while simultaneously finding a way to tie in giving opportunities.
• Testing. Not happy with your fundraising results? Test out new ideas! Vary your email messaging and mix around your website a bit. Testing is a vital piece of the puzzle when working to improve your numbers!

Rebecca Ruby, Marketing Specialist, Network for Good & Editor of www.Fundraising123.org

According to Loren McDonald, "Email consumers control their destiny—choosing when to opt in and when to say adios." This means your unsubscribe page needs to be easy to find and easy to use. And, in a best-case scenario, making this option as user-friendly as possible might keep them from leaving at all. "Many of your subscribers who click the unsubscribe link just want some aspect of the relationship to change," McDonald explains. He suggests some options that might help them choose to stay:

• Offer an unsubscribe/preference page that allows subscribers both to opt out and change preferences. The functionality should enable users to change their email address and profile, along with frequency, format and channel.
• Offer a subscription to another newsletter that may have more relevance for them. Provide a list of those you offer, and let them switch if they’d like.
• Provide contact information that customers can use for the immediate resolution of problems like pages that don’t load, or error messages.

Finally, "an unsubscribe link in an obvious location should lead to a well-designed, branded page that explains exactly how to unsubscribe, thanks the user for his/her patronage, and completes the unsubscribe process quickly for those who really do want to leave," McDonald advises.

By showing you care to subscribers who want to opt out, you may just keep them.

And the DMA’s member guidelines require opt-outs that are easy to find, easy to understand and easy to act on. For details on the DMA’s Commitment to Consumer Choice go here.

MarketingProfs. Click to read the article.

Construction and maintenance of a database are essential elements, but, like almost anything, doing it wrong can have far-reaching consequences.

At the DM Days conference, Arthur Middleton Hughes, president and solutions architect of KnowledgeBase Marketing Inc., said that there are nine deadly mistakes made with databases that will ruin chances for success.

The nine mistakes are:

• Lack of a marketing strategy. A basic strategy rule is to put yourself in the customer’s shoes.
• Focus on price instead of service. Database marketing, not discounts, will build loyalty.
• Failure to use tests and controls. Database marketing is accountable and everything can be measured.
• Poor segment strategy. Think of status levels and marketing segments.
• Failure to link the database to the Web. Your site must have information available to customers/prospects when they use the Web.
• Building in-house. Marketing databases are unlike any other IT function.
• Treating all customers alike.  For example, loyal customers are more profitable then new or disloyal customers.
• Failure to develop a retention program. Every dollar spent on retention returns more than a dollar of acquisition.
• Lack of a forceful leader. Success requires directing the activities of many internal and external units. Database marketers must be leaders.

NonProfit Times Weekly, The Nonprofit Times

"Fifty million people changed their email address last year," says Eric Groves. "How many of those are on your email list right now?"

…Not happy with your answer to that one? Don’t worry: Groves says a little regular maintenance can keep your list hale and hearty. Here are some of his choices for list-cleaning best practices:

Analyze bounce backs. Investigate why messages bounce, and remove any addresses with a hard bounce from your list. Also identify and correct typos like .con instead of .com.

Manage unsubscribe requests. If your email marketing service doesn’t process unsubscribes automatically, make this a top priority.

Monitor your "reply to" inbox. Because spammers have been known to use unsubscribe functions to verify an address, some recipients prefer to make the request by email. Check your inbox for them.

Re-engage inactive subscribers. Design a campaign for those who haven’t opened your emails for the last six months. "If this doesn’t work," says Groves, "remove them. Clearly, they aren’t interested."

Form one good habit. Set time aside after each campaign—or once a month—for analyzing data and tossing out bad addresses.

Good list hygiene pays off. "Your sparkling clean email list may shrink a bit, but will outperform your big, old, messy list any day," Groves concludes.

MarketingProfs. Click to read the article.

My son, Jake, and I just returned from a mission trip to the Czech Republic working with Roma parents and children (gypsies). We were developing relationships with a group of people who have been ostracized by society and have little or no resources. We spent four days sharing toys, children’s items, smiles, hugs, time, and love with people less fortunate than us. Yet we got so much more in return.

When the Romani people realized we were there to help them, they started giving back to us. The adults and children shared with us what little they had. Children would bring a bag of chips or candy and share it with the members of our group. Adults brought hot tea on a cold, rainy day. And on our last day they wanted to perform in costume their traditional dances for us.

And it all started because we first gave to them…asking nothing in return.

Is this the approach your organization takes? Giving comes first.

Do donors see your organization as one that gives or only asks? I know as a donor it bothers me that the only time I hear from certain organizations is when they’re asking for a gift. Don’t get me wrong. I’m in the business of helping organizations ask for money using direct mail and the internet, but we also have to give back to our donors.

A museum I’ve supported sends me free tickets to their exhibitions. A rescue mission invites me to enjoy a meal with the men they serve and see all the ways the mission is making a difference. Do you send your donors birthday cards or notes thanking them for being a donor for the last 2, 3 or 5 years? Learn what’s important to your donors and give it to them.

In their book, The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John David Mann layout The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success for business people. These concepts of giving can apply equally as well to nonprofits.

1. The Law of Value – Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than what you take in payment.
2. The Law of Compensation – Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
3. The Law of Influence – Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interest first.
4. The Law of Authenticity – The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
5. The Law of Receptivity – The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving. 

Now do a little audit of your organization. Are you giving or taking?

One of the highlights of my trip was when 6-year-old David spotted me and ran across the dirt soccer field to give me a big hug. The day before I had taught David to play wiffle ball. Find ways to give your donors big hugs.

Scott Swedenburg, Principal, Mail Enterprises

Some highlights from this session:

Why do some organizations raise 2x the money with the same staffing?

• Prospect potential – what is out there?
• Strategy – how do we tap into it?
• Execution – can we execute the strategies?

Three business processes of Fundraising:

• Base Development (DM)  - Goals:
  • Broaden participation
  • Raise unrestricted revenue
  • Teach giving behavior
  • Develop organizational loyalty
• Major gift Development – Goal:
  • Maximize philanthropic behavior & loyalty
• Prospect

Business Understanding:

• Objective of program
• Evaluation & deployment: projections

Data Understanding:

• Acquire new donors
• Engage non donor constituents
• Renew previous years donors
• Upgrade donors
• Move donors into the major gift pipeline

Laura Cox, Sr. Account Executive, Direct Media, Inc.

Empathetic. Donor-centric. Sympathetic. Your marketing communications are “ticking” along as they should be. But, as we’re all painfully aware, the right-side of the  brain just loves piping in to talk about numbers, figures, trends and goals.

Instead of telling that portion of the brain to buzz off (as I often do), use it to create the fourth and final piece of your online fundraising plan: The Numbers. Below, check out our tips for getting a jump on mapping what your numbers look like now and what you hope they look like later:

Budget Tips:

• Planning to raise money online? Of course you are! Why else would you be developing an online fundraising plan? Be sure to build into your budget what you plan to spend for donation processing. For instance, you can check out our own Custom DonateNow service–great value for a price that won’t eat up your budget.
• Fixing up your website? Be realistic about the features you need versus the features you want. Set up your budget ahead of time, and don’t be distracted by shiny objects: your website is a tool and a resource, not a fireworks show. Learn how to spend your website dollars wisely and read great tips from a real pro and Nonprofit 911 presenter.
• Thinking about advertising? If you’re considering developing banner ads or other paid online outreach, remember to keep in mind the various items you’re paying for: design, development and placement costs.
• Hiring extra help? You may be planning to use the talents of a copywriter for your website or consultant to help you out. Those folks often like to get paid–go figure. And in planning this line item, do some brainstorming about how you might cut costs: Maybe a graphic designer (could be a student) will donate time or a communications intern can develop testimonials for your website.

Tracking, Benchmarking, Reporting Tips:

• Custom DonateNow. Are you a CDN customer? If so, don’t forget to log into your account to check out your donor reports. You can even track your campaigns by evaluating the tracking codes for different DonateNow buttons on your site and in your emails.  
• Email messaging. Determine an evaluation schedule for monitoring your e-communications. Will you track the number of donors (past and new) directly tied to your email communications? Monitor giving levels of donors receiving your emails versus those who are not.
• Website traffic. Sign up for Google Analytics to evaluate site traffic. Work language into your online fundraising plan about how you will determine which content is most appealing and how you will increase visibility of that content while simultaneously finding a way to tie in giving opportunities.
• Testing. Not happy with your fundraising results? Test out new ideas! Vary your email messaging and mix around your website a bit. Testing is a vital piece of the puzzle when working to improve your numbers! 

Rebecca Ruby, Marketing Specialist, Network for Good

Most urban legends persist, and it doesn’t matter that they are not true. If stories that don’t inspire, ennoble or (actually) inform us stick, why don’t stories that do? Why don’t stories about the important work done by nonprofits stay in people’s minds and then get passed along?

That is the issue faced by Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their book Made To Stick. Heath and Heath believe there are six principles that apply to ideas that do stick with people.

Those principles are:

• Simplicity. Find the essential core of an idea. Proverbs are a good model because they are both simple and profound.
• Unexpectedness. Surprise will grab their attention, but interest and curiosity will hold it. Systematically open gaps in their knowledge, and then fill those gaps. The surprise should be germane to the message.
• Concreteness. Explain ideas in terms of human actions, of sensory information.
• Credibility. Citing sources can be a great help, but sticky ideas carry their own credentials.
• Emotions. We can influence people to care about our ideas by getting them to feel something.
• Stories. Research shows that when we mentally rehearse a situation we perform better when it actually comes. Hearing stories acts as a form of rehearsal.

NPT Instant Fundraising, NonProfit Times

A less than stellar charity rating … getting blasted in a blog … or, maybe, a CEO that gets caught in a scandal. Any of these situations are bound to leave an organization’s phones ringing with calls from confused, frustrated or even angry donors.

How does an organization relax those donors, calm their fears and address their concerns?

Read more from the FRS Conference Roundup.

Melissa Busch, Associate Senior Editor, FundRaising Success

Some highlights from this session:

Why do some organizations raise 2x the money with the same staffing?

• Prospect potential – what is out there?
• Strategy – how do we tap into it?
• Execution – can we execute the strategies?

Three business processes of Fundraising:

• Base Development (DM) - Goals:
• Broaden participation
• Raise unrestricted revenue
• Teach giving behavior
• Develop organizational loyalty
• Major gift Development – Goal:
• Maximize philanthropic behavior & loyalty
• Prospect

Business Understanding:

• Objective of program
• Evaluation & deployment: projections

Data Understanding:

• Acquire new donors
• Engage non donor constituents
• Renew previous years donors
• Upgrade donors
• Move donors into the major gift pipeline

Laura Cox, Sr. Account Executive, Direct Media, Inc.