Even if some donors are afraid to open their mailbox, nonprofits must keep mailing to fill coffers weakened by post Sept. 11 drop-offs.
Lindy Litrides, an Atlanta-based nonprofit fundraising consultant, told DIRECT Newsline that clients and agencies she’s spoken with are going ahead with mailings as planned, taking care to address public concerns.
“They’re being sensitive, making sure logos are on envelopes so people know the mail is coming from a trusted source,” she said.
Many nonprofits are also looking to step away from ultra-personalized efforts, Litrides said, while others are stopping use of type that looks like handwriting, opting instead for a more formal route.
The March of Dimes is one such organization. Carol Portale, vice president of direct marketing and fundraising, noted that the White Plains, NY charity is particularly concerned about its “Mother’s March” campaign, scheduled to mail in January. The effort, which raises an estimated $17 million of the group’s $290 million annual fundraising goal, involves mailing envelopes to local volunteers, who in turn then hand-address the envelopes and send them to neighbors. In the past, the personal touch has been a boon to the campaign. This year, they’re considering changing the look of the envelopes to give them a more official veneer.
Portale noted that for the March of Dimes, like most nonprofits, the fourth quarter is the most significant fundraising time of the year. A major campaign dropped Sept. 26.
“We’re holding our breath, because we’re out there big time,” she said. “But we can’t stop fundraising because there are crazy people out there. America’s babies are our future.”
Another campaign which mailed in mid-August pulled a respectable response, and the March of Dimes expects to meet its fundraising goals for this year, topping 2000 by 4% or 5%. An ongoing telemarketing campaign, in which representatives do address the events of Sept. 11, has been performing well, with an unexpected twist.
“The calls have been longer,” said Portale. “People want to talk more, which is interesting.”
For the Disabled American Veterans, things are “business as usual,” said Max Hart, director of fundraising. While the DAV is taking security precautions regarding mail in its Cincinnati facility, which mails 50 million of the 60 million pieces, the nonprofit sends annually and processes roughly 9 million return envelopes, no fundraising mail plan or package changes are anticipated.
A five million-piece mailing that dropped Aug. 1 pulled a respectable 12% response, which Hart expects may eventually rise to 15%. One of the DAV’s two largest annual mailings, to 6.5 million names from its 8 million name current active donor file, had just dropped at press time.
Prior to Sept. 11, the DAV’s 2001 efforts were lagging behind last year by about 9% or 10%. Direct mail netted $100.1 million in 2000. Hart said $97 million had been initially projected for this year, a figure that had been reforecast to $90.6 million. But things may be a bit brighter than that, he said, noting that returns post Sept. 11 were not as low as anticipated. “I don’t know if that’s just unique to us,” he said. “Maybe people associate us with the military presence overseas.
The DAV does no telemarketing efforts, and is only starting to see marginal success with online marketing. Because of the three-to-six month lead-time on campaigns, the organization has never been able to capitalize on current events in its direct mail fundraising. Hart did note that text regarding the current military actions has been placed on the DAV Web site.
The American Institute for Cancer Research, Washington, DC, hasn’t had much luck so far with online marketing, mainly because its primary donor base, average age 66, isn’t comfortable with e-mail solicitations, said Kelly Browning, executive vice president.
Because it already prints its full name and logo on all direct mail, the group isn’t planning any changes to its mailing packages. “We already do that because we want to know who we are,” Browning said. “It’s good direct marketing practice.”
The Institute dropped a mailing to 2.5 million names from its house file on Oct. 1, and is tracking response closely. So far, the effort is even with and perhaps even a bit ahead of the same campaign last year. A prospecting effort is also mailing this month; Browning said he was unsure how an acquisition effort would fare in these times but that stopping the mailing would have been too much of a loss for the group to incur.
Even before Sept. 11, the poor economy made it a tough year for the charity. For the fiscal year which ended Sept. 30, Browning said that the $39 million raised by the group is short from projected revenue by about $500,000 net. A “neighbor-to-neighbor” telemarketing effort, which typically raises $7 million in revenue, fell short of expectations by about $150,000 net in July and August, he added.
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