Kansas City Nonprofit Launches Multimedia DR Effort
The Kansas City Rescue Mission plans to launch a multimedia direct response campaign this fall to help feed that city’s homeless and generally less fortunate residents.
The organization will send 255,000 prospecting pieces to known nonprofit donors in the local area. These lists primarily consist of women ages 65 and over who are retired, and typically homeowners. A third of the names will be households in the local area that are demographically similar to the names identified as donors. All lists will be rentals rather than exchanges, a common practice for nonprofits, notes Randy Brewer, CEO of Brewer Direct, the mission’s agency.
Last year, Brewer ran a similar campaign for the Market Street Mission in Morristown, NJ, which yielded a return on investment of $4.88 for every dollar spent on marketing.
In addition, the charity is running a statement stuffer campaign in the subscription bills of the Kansas City Star newspaper. The Mission will also try to raise funds through freestanding inserts in the newspaper, which has a circulation of 550,000 weekdays, 770,000 on Sundays.
Banner ads will also be placed on the newspaper’s website, which has 3.8 million unique visitors per month, typically educated men in their 40s who are “business leaders,” says Brewer. “Basically the subscribers are people who’ve shown commitment to public service in the local area” by virtue of reading about it.
The offer in all communications will be to pay around $2.25 for holiday meals. Brewer notes that more than 80% of the Mission’s donations come through direct mail. The average gift from direct mail falls in the $32 to $34 range, he says.
“We’re just using the website to raise awareness,” says Brewer. “People tend to look at the website and turn around and give by mail.”
Nevertheless, online donations can run as high as $75 to $80.
Later this year, the campaign may expand to other local areas publications and/or radio stations, he says.
“Other missions are using radio spots,” he says, noting that these organizations often then in turn get featured on the stations’ websites, thus increasing the bang for the buck.
Some nonprofits have found radio advertising effective, especially when combined with other media.
The mission does have a presence both on Facebook and Twitter which it uses to develop relationships with users. At deadline, Brewer said he was talking with the mission about possibly coming up with ways to drive social media users straight to its website where they could possibly become donors.
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