Today we meet Inga Beck, a list planner who specializes in fundraising at Names in the News Inc., Oakland, CA. Beck says she enjoys list analytics more than any other aspect of her work. “That’s my niche.”
Beck has been working with lists for eight years. She got her start doing list brokerage and management work at Pacific Lists Inc. for publishers. About a year and half ago, she moved on to Names in the News because she wanted to focus more list brokerage and analytical work.
“A list planner is fancier title for a list broker with added responsibilities. I create mail plans and work with other brokers,” Beck says.
She feels fortunate because the kind of work she does suits her personal values. She deals with clients concerned with environmental, humanitarian, political and animal rights causes.
Among the organizations she works with are the National Parks and Conservation Association, Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy, Wilderness Society, Earthjustice, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, African Wildlife Foundation, 21st Century Democrats and the Anti-Defamation League.
Beck says a good list broker must have a passion for researching lists to find common threads for clients, in terms of demographics like age and income, and organizations with similar messages and missions. This helps to create a balanced mix of lists for ongoing tests and continuation mailings. “It’s really cool to find out what works,” she adds.
After work, Beck enjoys spending as much time as possible outside. “I’m into extreme sports like surfing, mountain biking and snowboarding,” she says.
Alternative health, Buddhism and yoga interest her as well. “I’m really a health nut and I eat all organic foods, which you have to do if you’re into mountain biking,” says Beck.
How do you balance the mix of small and large size lists for client recommendations?
“I weigh out the demographics and usage of course, but there’s the roll out (quantity) potential to consider too, Beck says. Smaller lists usually perform better because they’re more targeted, but larger lists will work fine with lifestyle and demographic selects.”
Relying too much on small lists increases the risk of list fatigue over the long term, which is why it’s important to find new names from larger files to sustain mailing programs, she points out.
“I typically look for files with quantities larger than 20,000 names and I rotate the smaller files in my list recommendations,” Beck says.
Most fundraisers rely on six or so core lists for mailing programs
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