There’s no question that the BP Oil Spill is one of the biggest environmental disasters in history, and it seems like every day, the news gets worse. And bad news for the world can be great news for nonprofit organizations.
When people see a disaster unfolding, they want to help. The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti this past year spawned hundreds of millions of dollars of charitable giving from all over the world.
So, should you go with a package that talks about your organization as a whole (the Institutional approach), or send out a package specifically addressing the bad news du jour?
The short answer is: It Depends.
First, you need to know what your goal is with your acquisition mailing. Are you looking to get a lot of new supporters fast? Or do you want to go for quality long-term supporters?
A hot issue might bring in a lot of new donors, but you run the risk that it's a one-time gift. You'll need to plan to mail a lot so you can continually replenish those people who drop out once the Bad News they came in on has been resolved or fades out of public consciousness.
But if a donor buys into your mission as a whole, she's going to stick around for the long haul, rewarding you with annual income and even special appeal gifts.
After you look at your goals, you should also take a few moments to consider these questions:
If you can’t shout a big ol’ “YES” to all of those questions, then it’s probably a waste of your precious resources to mail an acquisition letter devoted entirely to the Bad News. Your resources are better spent sending an Institutional package.
Does that mean you can’t address the Bad News? Absolutely not! Especially if an issue is as large-scale as the Oil Spill, you have to talk about it, if only to mention that your hearts are with those suffering.
But when you're trying to acquire new donors, you want to sell them on who you are and what you do. Stay true to your passion, and your identity, and you'll have donors who stay true to you.
I had intended for this week to be Acquisition Week, chock full of handy tips, dos and don'ts, and answers to common questions all about the art of acquiring new donors in direct mail. But somehow I woke up and it was Wednesday already! (How does this happen?) The upshot: Acquisition Week is going to straddle a couple of weeks...and I might even toss in a couple of extra tidbits along the way.
First things first: Prospecting is hard. And expensive. And scary. You're tossing a huge amount of money out the door, knowing you won't recoup that investment for around 18 months. You may have to scramble to convince your board that it's worth it. And then you have to figure out how to craft your message and develop a winning package. Whew!
So let's break it down.
Why's it so hard?
The toughest thing about creating a strong Prospecting package? You’re mailing to people who aren’t your donors.
The people who support you are already vested in your mission. They got your mail, stumbled across your website, heard about you from a friend or a news report, and said, “Yes! That’s an organization I can get behind!”
When you’re talking to people who already think you're great, you don’t have to work so hard to convince them that you’re worthy of their support. Sure, you want to remind them of all the reasons they chose to give to you in the first place (in their Renewal letters) or convince them to give a little extra to a Special Appeal, but you don’t have to sell them on your organization. You’re free to riff on your work.
But when you’re trying to capture the attention of someone new, you have to convince them – from the get-go – that you’re worthy of their time and their money.
Tomorrow, I'll tell you how you can write a blockbuster lead for an acquisition package. And if you have questions, post them in the comments below.
BONUS: Check out this new resource for Prospect researchers for more information about how to choose your prospects, engage with other professionals and learn new trends.
Now that you’ve chosen your theme, it’s time to think about how to craft a dynamite lead. It's one of the hardest things to do when you're writing anything, but in a fundraising letter, the lead can make or break the entire campaign.
I took a fiction writing class from writer Karen Karbo about ten years ago, and one thing really stuck with me. We were all working on fiction that we had started in the class, and after about three meetings of workshopping the pieces, she said something along the lines of (sorry for not having the exact quote, but it has been a decade), "You know, I always find that the beginning I start with usually needs to go somewhere in the middle. And somewhere in the middle of my first draft, I find my beginning."
That's how I approach most of my fundraising letters. Sure, sometimes the lead will just jump up and wave its hand in the air and shout "Pick Me! Pick Me!" But most of the time, you find it buried somewhere in the middle.
It's a tiny nugget of outrage...a moving personal story...a terrifyingly urgent problem...all couched in the most emotional language you can muster.
Get that problem right up front and show -- don't tell! -- why it's so urgent that we solve it. Spin a story about someone whose life was changed because of the issue you're trying to address...demand action from legislators...paint a picture of what will happen if nothing changes...hit your donors right in the gut.
I know, I know, nobody likes that whole "the sky is falling!" approach. But. It. Works.
When donors are moved, they give you money. And while you might feel more comfortable leading with something that's a little more informational, a little less sensational, the point is to stir donors up, ignite their passion for your work. Because a passionate donor is a donor who gives to your special appeals.
Welcome to Special Appeal Week, a series of posts on writing dynamic, money-raising, and compelling special appeal letters.
A core part of any direct mail fundraising program is the Special Appeal – those asks the organization sends in between acquiring a donor and renewing her. They’re usually issue-specific and hard-hitting, rather than the more general Acquisition and Renewal asks.
So when I sit down to work on a Special Appeal letter, the first question I usually ask is, What's the money for?
It's sometimes a harder question to answer than you'd think, particularly in terms of direct mail. I often hear answers like, "Well...we need to travel to Washington, D.C." or "We want to put a cool thing on the Web that talks about our issue."
And while these may be worthwhile endeavors and absolutely critical to your cause, they're not going to make anybody fork over their hard-earned cash. You want to open wallets? Choose a good theme.
The theme is the foundation of your mailing campaign, the reason for sending the letter. And while putting good information on the Web and sending advocates to D.C. may be a part of that, you need a really exciting and important idea around which to rally your supporters first.
Campaigns are fantastic way to do it. Say you want to fund some research into new medicines to fight obesity. Great. Let's call it The Campaign to End Obesity and include four or five concrete actions you're going to take to accomplish this lofty-sounding goal. They can be things you're doing already -- education, advocacy, research funding, outreach -- but put them under a Campaign umbrella, and you sound like a mover-and-shaker with a real strategy.
I work with a lot of activist organizations, and that’s another fantastic appeal angle. What kind of advocacy work is your organization doing? Build your appeal around a Petition or a Declaration of Support, and your donors will feel like they’re helping you out in an even bigger way.
And don't forget the incredible opportunity appeals give you to alert your donors to what's going on in the organization. Give them the information, as much information as you can throw at them in four pages.
Appeals are all about getting your donors to give more than just their yearly gift. And so you have to promise them something a bit more, as well.
