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Answer Upon - Donor Acquisition Fundraising Letters: Five Tips For Attracting New Donors And Members
The Five Stages of Change for Small Business Owners
Change is a tricky thing. If you are someone contemplating the changes that will occur by becoming a successful small business owner, it will be helpful for you to have a bird's eye view of where you are along the continuum.To that end, Dr. James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente developed a Transtheoretical Model of Change in 1982 that has been applied to everything from weight loss to drug addiction with great success and acclaim. Though their model has never before been applied
nd like a wise use of your resources, does it? But with acquisition fundraising letters, you need to have your eyes fixed on the lifetime value of your donor, not the short-term value of their first gift.
Change is a tricky thing. If you are someone contemplating the changes that will occur by becoming a successful small business owner, it will be helpful for you to have a bird's eye view of where you are along the continuum.To that end, Dr. James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente developed a Transtheoretical Model of Change in 1982 that has been applied to everything from weight loss to drug addiction with great success and acclaim. Though their model has never before been applied
5. Agonize over your list more than your package
The single most important factor in determining your success in direct mail donor acquisition is your list. A poor letter mailed to a great list will generate a response. But a terrific letter mailed to the wrong people will generate nothing.
So before you rent a list of names and drop an expensive direct mail acquisition package in the mail, examine the potential donors on your list. Make sure they are good prospects for a donation today—and tom
Entrepreneurs: Benefits vs. Features-Know the Difference!
Entrepreneurs know their business. They know their product, their service. Many of them write creative Web sites. But, one thing they are not as adept at is promotional copy.It's not the book, it's the hook! It's not the beautiful Web site, it's the one with benefit-driven headlines that lead your visitor straight to your sales message. What you say outside the book covers matters. What you say about your service on your site must be so much more powerful than your pleasing pers
Your organization is doing well if 85 percent of your donors renew their support each year, according to Stanley Weinstein in his book The Complete Guide to Fundraising Management.
Entrepreneurs know their business. They know their product, their service. Many of them write creative Web sites. But, one thing they are not as adept at is promotional copy.It's not the book, it's the hook! It's not the beautiful Web site, it's the one with benefit-driven headlines that lead your visitor straight to your sales message. What you say outside the book covers matters. What you say about your service on your site must be so much more powerful than your pleasing pers
To put it another way, you are doing well if no more than 15 percent of your donors fall away each year.
So do the math.
If your organization has 10,000 active donors, and if 8,500 (85 percent) of them renew each year, then 1,500 (15 percent) of them will drop off every year. Ouch.
This is the main reason that you need to create and manage a well-planned, annual donor acquisition program. You cannot afford to simply mail to your existing donors only. You need to replace the donors who never renew. Without a steady influx of new donors, you will be moving backwards each year, not forwards.
Here are some tips for running a successful annual donor acquisition program.
1. Know your attrition rate
Naturally, if you are to replace the donors who fall away each year, you need to know how many need replacing. That means you need to calculate your attrition rate. Your attrition rate is simply the rate at which donors do not renew their gifts, usually expressed as a percentage of active donors.
2. Recruit as well as replace
Your donor acquisition program likely needs to increase your donor base as well. You not only need to replace the donors who stop giving each year. You need to add new donors as well. So if your attrition rate is 15 percent annually and your goal is to increase your donor file by 10 annually, then you need to increase your donor file by 25 percent each year.
3. Mail in sufficient numbers to meet your acquisition goals
Another number that you need to know is your response rate for acquisition mailings. If your acquisition control package currently generates a response rate of one percent, then you must mail 100 packages to acquire one new donor.
So how many packages must you mail each year to reach your donor acquisition goals?
Well, using our previous example, if you have 10,000 active donors in your house file, and if you lose 15 percent of them each year through attrition, and if you want to increase the size of your list by 10 percent each year, then you must acquire 2,500 new donors each year (25 percent of your total list of 10,000).
So, if your acquisition package attracts one new donor for every 100 packages that you mail, then to attract 2,500 new donors each year you must mail 250,000 donor acquisition packages each year (1% of 250,000 = 2,500).
4. Aim to raise friends, not funds
Most acquisition mailings lose money or barely break even. According to James Greenfield, in his excellent book, Fund Raising (second edition), you can expect to pay anywhere from $1.25 to $1.50 to raise $1 with an acquisition mailing. That doesn’t sound like a wise use of your resources, does it? But with acquisition fundraising letters, you need to have your eyes fixed on the lifetime value of your donor, not the short-term value of their first gift.
5. Agonize over your list more than your package
The single most important factor in determining your success in direct mail donor acquisition is your list. A poor letter mailed to a great list will generate a response. But a terrific letter mailed to the wrong people will generate nothing.
So before you rent a list of names and drop an expensive direct mail acquisition package in the mail, examine the potential donors on your list. Make sure they are good prospects for a donation today—and tomo
Franchisors Use the 5Ks to Keep their Franchise Business Successful
The franchise business world is constantly changing as new opportunities are released every month to an already stretched market place. By utilising the 5Ks of being a successful franchisor it is possible to keep ahead of the competition.The 5Ks for being a successful franchisor are:Keep Communicating Keep Supporting Keep Innovating Keep Investing Keep PositiveAlways refer to the 5Ks to ensure that the franchi
steady influx of new donors, you will be moving backwards each year, not forwards.
The franchise business world is constantly changing as new opportunities are released every month to an already stretched market place. By utilising the 5Ks of being a successful franchisor it is possible to keep ahead of the competition.The 5Ks for being a successful franchisor are:Keep Communicating Keep Supporting Keep Innovating Keep Investing Keep PositiveAlways refer to the 5Ks to ensure that the franchi
Here are some tips for running a successful annual donor acquisition program.
1. Know your attrition rate
Naturally, if you are to replace the donors who fall away each year, you need to know how many need replacing. That means you need to calculate your attrition rate. Your attrition rate is simply the rate at which donors do not renew their gifts, usually expressed as a percentage of active donors.
2. Recruit as well as replace
Your donor acquisition program likely needs to increase your donor base as well. You not only need to replace the donors who stop giving each year. You need to add new donors as well. So if your attrition rate is 15 percent annually and your goal is to increase your donor file by 10 annually, then you need to increase your donor file by 25 percent each year.
3. Mail in sufficient numbers to meet your acquisition goals
Another number that you need to know is your response rate for acquisition mailings. If your acquisition control package currently generates a response rate of one percent, then you must mail 100 packages to acquire one new donor.
So how many packages must you mail each year to reach your donor acquisition goals?
Well, using our previous example, if you have 10,000 active donors in your house file, and if you lose 15 percent of them each year through attrition, and if you want to increase the size of your list by 10 percent each year, then you must acquire 2,500 new donors each year (25 percent of your total list of 10,000).
So, if your acquisition package attracts one new donor for every 100 packages that you mail, then to attract 2,500 new donors each year you must mail 250,000 donor acquisition packages each year (1% of 250,000 = 2,500).
4. Aim to raise friends, not funds
Most acquisition mailings lose money or barely break even. According to James Greenfield, in his excellent book, Fund Raising (second edition), you can expect to pay anywhere from $1.25 to $1.50 to raise $1 with an acquisition mailing. That doesn’t sound like a wise use of your resources, does it? But with acquisition fundraising letters, you need to have your eyes fixed on the lifetime value of your donor, not the short-term value of their first gift.
5. Agonize over your list more than your package
The single most important factor in determining your success in direct mail donor acquisition is your list. A poor letter mailed to a great list will generate a response. But a terrific letter mailed to the wrong people will generate nothing.
So before you rent a list of names and drop an expensive direct mail acquisition package in the mail, examine the potential donors on your list. Make sure they are good prospects for a donation today—and tom
7 SBA Loan Myths
Most small business owners have considered financing at some point in the life of their business. You may have considered expansion, buying new equipment, more inventories, purchasing real estate, or just looking for a new capital infusion. But the confusion surrounding SBA loans may perplex or frustrate even the most astute entrepreneur. Conflicting information from your trusted advisors or the internet may not help to bring you closer to separating fact from fiction.There are m
new donors as well. So if your attrition rate is 15 percent annually and your goal is to increase your donor file by 10 annually, then you need to increase your donor file by 25 percent each year.
Most small business owners have considered financing at some point in the life of their business. You may have considered expansion, buying new equipment, more inventories, purchasing real estate, or just looking for a new capital infusion. But the confusion surrounding SBA loans may perplex or frustrate even the most astute entrepreneur. Conflicting information from your trusted advisors or the internet may not help to bring you closer to separating fact from fiction.There are m
3. Mail in sufficient numbers to meet your acquisition goals
Another number that you need to know is your response rate for acquisition mailings. If your acquisition control package currently generates a response rate of one percent, then you must mail 100 packages to acquire one new donor.
So how many packages must you mail each year to reach your donor acquisition goals?
Well, using our previous example, if you have 10,000 active donors in your house file, and if you lose 15 percent of them each year through attrition, and if you want to increase the size of your list by 10 percent each year, then you must acquire 2,500 new donors each year (25 percent of your total list of 10,000).
So, if your acquisition package attracts one new donor for every 100 packages that you mail, then to attract 2,500 new donors each year you must mail 250,000 donor acquisition packages each year (1% of 250,000 = 2,500).
4. Aim to raise friends, not funds
Most acquisition mailings lose money or barely break even. According to James Greenfield, in his excellent book, Fund Raising (second edition), you can expect to pay anywhere from $1.25 to $1.50 to raise $1 with an acquisition mailing. That doesn’t sound like a wise use of your resources, does it? But with acquisition fundraising letters, you need to have your eyes fixed on the lifetime value of your donor, not the short-term value of their first gift.
5. Agonize over your list more than your package
The single most important factor in determining your success in direct mail donor acquisition is your list. A poor letter mailed to a great list will generate a response. But a terrific letter mailed to the wrong people will generate nothing.
So before you rent a list of names and drop an expensive direct mail acquisition package in the mail, examine the potential donors on your list. Make sure they are good prospects for a donation today—and tom
Change Begins from Within Through Paradigm Shifts to Your Belief System
Many individuals and that includes organizations which are just groups of individuals united to achieve specific goals continually seek new answers to this centuries old question: How do I change?With today's generation having more change in one year than their grandparent's experienced in their entire lifetime, learning how to deal with change is critical to personal and organizational success. This is called change management. Yet, change is still a challenge even for those w
each year through attrition, and if you want to increase the size of your list by 10 percent each year, then you must acquire 2,500 new donors each year (25 percent of your total list of 10,000).
Many individuals and that includes organizations which are just groups of individuals united to achieve specific goals continually seek new answers to this centuries old question: How do I change?With today's generation having more change in one year than their grandparent's experienced in their entire lifetime, learning how to deal with change is critical to personal and organizational success. This is called change management. Yet, change is still a challenge even for those w
So, if your acquisition package attracts one new donor for every 100 packages that you mail, then to attract 2,500 new donors each year you must mail 250,000 donor acquisition packages each year (1% of 250,000 = 2,500).
4. Aim to raise friends, not funds
Most acquisition mailings lose money or barely break even. According to James Greenfield, in his excellent book, Fund Raising (second edition), you can expect to pay anywhere from $1.25 to $1.50 to raise $1 with an acquisition mailing. That doesn’t sound like a wise use of your resources, does it? But with acquisition fundraising letters, you need to have your eyes fixed on the lifetime value of your donor, not the short-term value of their first gift.
5. Agonize over your list more than your package
The single most important factor in determining your success in direct mail donor acquisition is your list. A poor letter mailed to a great list will generate a response. But a terrific letter mailed to the wrong people will generate nothing.
So before you rent a list of names and drop an expensive direct mail acquisition package in the mail, examine the potential donors on your list. Make sure they are good prospects for a donation today—and tom
Customer and Employee Loyalty: How Do You rate?
The average company loses half their customers in 5 years and half their employees in 4 years? This has significant impact to overall customer, employee, investor and supplier loyalty. Loyalty is the degree to which these groups are loyal to your product, service and organization.In today's market, being customer focused is a key to survival and longevity. High levels of loyalty have positive impact on customer satisfaction, profitability, and reputation. Happy employees w
nd like a wise use of your resources, does it? But with acquisition fundraising letters, you need to have your eyes fixed on the lifetime value of your donor, not the short-term value of their first gift.
The average company loses half their customers in 5 years and half their employees in 4 years? This has significant impact to overall customer, employee, investor and supplier loyalty. Loyalty is the degree to which these groups are loyal to your product, service and organization.In today's market, being customer focused is a key to survival and longevity. High levels of loyalty have positive impact on customer satisfaction, profitability, and reputation. Happy employees w
5. Agonize over your list more than your package
The single most important factor in determining your success in direct mail donor acquisition is your list. A poor letter mailed to a great list will generate a response. But a terrific letter mailed to the wrong people will generate nothing.
So before you rent a list of names and drop an expensive direct mail acquisition package in the mail, examine the potential donors on your list. Make sure they are good prospects for a donation today—and tomorrow. They need to meet at least three criteria:
1. have the capacity to make a donation now
2. have an interest in your cause or the people you help
3. stand a good chance of making repeated donations
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