Sanky Blog

It wouldn’t be the holidays without the annual DMFA Holiday Luncheon. But what set this year’s event apart was that guests were given an unusual gift… industry experts Harry Lynch of SankyNet and Vivianne Potter of Amnesty International USA shared 12 ideas to boost your bottom line by December 31st. This informative 30 minute session was filled with key online fundraising and direct mail tips!

Knowing that times are still difficult for many organizations, DMFA board members decided to turn their holiday party into a fun, festive educational experience. Participants were treated to not only great food and company but also valuable lessons in last minute fundraising ideas including:

During the presentation, Harry and Vivianne discussed these and many other techniques that can be used to make a difference in an organization’s online and direct mail fundraising programs.

It was a perfect way to celebrate the season of sharing!

KaBOOM! – an organization whose mission is to save play for America’s children – recently presented SankyNet and SankyDirect with an exciting challenge: develop a fully integrated grassroots individual giving program to help augment their already robust corporate partnership program.

Together, SankyNet and SankyDirect will integrate online, email, direct mail, and social networking components to fully engage KaBOOM!’s donors and supporters.

SankyNet will start this process by developing an inaugural online fundraising and communications program for KaBOOM!. This program includes both a monthly e-newsletter and a series of fundraising email appeals. To make sure these online tools are used most effectively, SankyNet will use a twofold strategy. We will both append email addresses from the KaBOOM! offline database, and also acquire additional email addresses through various marketing and social networking campaigns.

SankyNet wants for KaBOOM! to make the greatest possible impact on potential donors, so we will also revise both the homepage and donation pages of their website. Through reorganizing, redesigning, and expanding these elements, SankyNet will use its online expertise to fully optimize the KaBOOM! website into a powerful fundraising tool.

SankyDirect also has exciting plans to enhance KaBOOM!’s messaging. In the coming year, SankyDirect will design a new direct mail renewal program to help KaBOOM! improve their communication with current and past donors.

While developing these exciting new programs, SankyDirect will work with SankyNet to perform extensive message testing on all online and offline communications. Through testing what message yields the best response, our goal is to help KaBOOM! find the optimum voice to communicate with their donors volunteers, and sponsors.

SankyNet and SankyDirect are proud to embark on this joint venture with KaBOOM!. KaBOOM! works across the country with the mission of providing a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. We are excited to help KaBOOM! make America a safer place to play!

Learn more about KaBOOM! at www.kaboom.org.

This fall, SankyDirect will begin working with Delta Society, a dynamic organization who passionately believes that people are healthier and happier because companion, service and therapy animals enrich and positively impact their everyday lives.

Utilizing 32 years of direct mail experience, SankyDirect will produce a series of fall renewals to encourage continued support of Delta Society. Additionally, SankyDirect will implement an acquisition element to this fundraising campaign. This strategic method of obtaining lists of potential new donors holds the promise of dramatically increasing Delta Society’s income for years to come.

After completing this fall campaign, SankyDirect and Delta Society will continue to partner in the coming year to produce a full direct mail program. Both organizations are excited about the potential this new relationship holds!

Together with a committed team of volunteers, Delta Society brings a variety of service and therapy animals into hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and schools. By encouraging positive interactions between animals and people, they advance human health and well-being in the people they serve – the elderly, the disabled, schoolchildren, and hospital patients. Learn more about Delta Society at www.deltasociety.org.

SankyDirect looks forward to working with Delta Society, helping them develop a DirectMail program that is as dynamic as their mission.

With the potential to reach a wide audience rapidly and cost-effectively, more and more nonprofit organizations are using online communications tools to connect with donors, members, volunteers and supporters.

At the Center for Nonprofit Success’ New York Fundraising Summit earlier this month, I discussed the topic of online fundraising, and how to harness technology to build and maintain productive donor relationships.

An online fundraising program consists of much more than a “Donate Now” button on your Web site. An organization needs to be proactive in communications with donors and potential donors both online and offline. The most successful nonprofits maintain an integrated approach for fundraising. But with so many channels, trying to find the right balance is difficult.

Before an organization jumps on any new media bandwagon, it needs to focus first on some tried-and-true fundamentals — making sure it has a solid Web site and compelling e-mail program, and cultivating a strategy for acquiring new donors. After all those ducks are in a row, then it can begin to think about integrating with social media.

Here are key components to an effective integrated online fundraising strategy:

1. Online fundraising fundamentals

With the advent of Facebook and Twitter, and other channels emerging all the time, integration can be a daunting task for many nonprofit organizations that are already understaffed.

Yet nonprofit organizations need to stop, take a breath and look at the fundamentals. Before you start moving donors between channels, you need to test your Web site for usability. It is so important to have intuitive Web site navigation architecture. People online have very little patience and will quickly click the “back” button if they can’t find what they want. You have seconds to engage visitors before you lose them.

Make sure your donation forms are always one click away, and always reassure donors about the security of the form. Donors are getting savvier about security settings on donation pages. They look for security certificates (e.g., VeriSign), https vs. http and the lock icon. Some of those offline donors are still not comfortable donating online, so providing the option of a printable giving form alleviates those concerns. And don’t forget to include a source code on the form for your data entry team.

A key difference between online and offline channels is the approach to fundraising vs. cultivation. Many organizations send out eight to 12 offline donor appeals a year. Online, you need to make sure you balance your e-mail communications with donors. Everything does not and should not have an ask. Online communication allows organizations to create stewardship pieces, updating donors on how their gifts are making a difference. Don’t forget that in e-mail fundraising, “opt-outs” are forever!

2. Renewing your donors

It is important to remember there are key differences between donors who give through different channels. Online fundraising cannot live in a box by itself; organizations need to synchronize media, coordinate consistent messaging and tailor content to each appropriate medium. Recent studies show that if you have an e-mail address on file for a donor, it makes a positive difference in his or her giving.

Online giving is certainly tilted toward year-end giving with two-thirds of income raised in the final months and days of the year. The ability to create a sense of urgency lends itself to the immediacy of the online environment. Many organizations have found great success with online “matching gift” campaigns, which allow an organization to create an artificial deadline. The best results come when you synchronize your campaign with offline fundraising efforts (e.g., direct mail, telemarketing).

The ability to be nimble is a key component of an effective integrated strategy. Timing is everything when it comes to integrated fundraising. You can start a campaign on your Web site, send an e-mail about an urgent news item (e.g., natural disaster, food shortage) and follow up the campaign with a direct-mail piece. You can test messaging online with immediate results, and then roll out the winning results through other channels. Don’t forget about your homepage when you launch a new campaign. Many studies show offline donors check out your Web site before making a gift.

3. E-mail acquisition: Science and art

Now that we all know having an e-mail address for a donor makes a positive impact on his or her giving, how do we acquire more e-mail addresses? Every organization needs to start with its Web site. Make sure you have a prominent, eye-catching “callout” on every page. If you have the ability to segment based on interest or frequency, this will increase your conversion rate. Make sure you keep and send what you promised at the collection point.

A quick way to jump-start an e-mail program is doing an e-mail append. An append uses a third-party commercial vendor to find an e-mail address from a donor’s “land” address. Be aware that these donors aren’t as responsive as other online donors, but the cost is minimal — fast-tracking your integration goals.

There still is the slow and steady way of collecting e-mail addresses using offline methods (e.g., direct mail, telemarketing). The good news here is when a donor gives you his or her e-mail address, it’s usually for the primary account.

Finally, think about using search engine marketing to invite people to join your e-mail program or become donors. These are the pay-per-click text ads running on Google and Yahoo. Many organizations have found that these ads perform similarly to a direct-mail acquisition. There is an up-front investment, but the long-term value of the donor is looking very optimistic.

4. What about social networks and microblogging?

After you put together a cohesive integrated strategy and master fundraising schedule — and if you still have time and resources left over — find ways to push your message and brand out to these channels. Coordinate your campaigns and find appropriate times to engage these new and old constituents. If you haven’t already, create a Facebook page, and maybe have a volunteer help manage it. See if you can find a program staff person to post on Twitter (tweet) from the front lines. But at the end of the day, don’t forget who’s writing the checks and donating online. Social media is just the icing on the cake.

Paul Habig is Executive Vice President of SankyNet, an integrated fundraising and communications firm.

This article was originally published in FundRaising Success Magazine.

We want to thank Chuck Pruitt for his excellent response, “Chuck Pruitt Is Mad!” on The Agitator to the tolling of the “direct mail is dead” bell – an old, old story indeed.

We too see that while direct mail continues to be the primary giving vehicle for most current donors, there is huge value in multi-channel givers, and that the rise in online giving, although it may not be as much as some people expected, is nonetheless exhilarating.

As we all know, recent studies show that if you have an email address on file for an offline donor it makes a positive difference in their giving. Reinforcing the need to synchronize channels, coordinate consistent messaging, and tailor content to each appropriate medium. Online fundraising doesn’t replace direct mail but reinforces the repetition of the message.

Our concerns about direct mail fundraising are less about any immediate generational behavior change than about technical problems, such as the financial health of the postal service, increases in list and printing costs, and continued media attention on the rare fundraiser abuses rather than the truly amazing work that most nonprofits accomplish, even in the midst of recession.

By: Judy Maneval, Harry Lynch, Paul Habig of Sanky Communications

It is always important to adequately and appropriately thank donors for their contributions. And in these days of economic malaise, it could not be more vital. This is the time to cement relationships for the better days ahead.

Since there are an unlimited number of good acknowledgment ideas, this will be the first in an occasional series of suggestions on the topic of thanking contributors. This month features offline ideas (i.e. direct mail fundraising) – the next in the series will highlight online techniques.

By: Judy Maneval, President of Sanky Communications

Each June, members of the Direct Marketing Fundraising Association (DMFA) present their best direct mail and email fundraising campaigns for a chance to win the Package of the Year Award. This year, SankyNet submitted an emergency relief e-appeal on behalf of PetSmart Charities®.

We are pleased to announce that SankyNet’s appeal for PetSmart Charities® won first place! The winning campaign helped raise money for a massive rescue of pets displaced by the historic 2007 Midwest flooding.

A key factor in the success of this campaign was the timeliness of the distribution. SankyNet’s team was able to write copy, design and code a custom HTML template, and distribute the email within 24 hours of the story breaking in the news. Even as emergency relief was still arriving in the affected areas, supporters were responding to the call for help.

In addition to winning first place, SankyNet’s campaign for Covenant House’s Bed and Blanket Matching Gift campaign took the “runner-up” position. This campaign also used careful timing and highly compelling creative to increase response rates.

The campaign usually “drops” in early November and reminds donors of how dangerous winter can be for homeless children. This year, however, much of the country experienced unusually warm temperatures in late fall. SankyNet recommended postponing the distribution until the temperatures dropped. Then on the day most of the East Coast and Midwest woke up to its first frost, Covenant House donors found an urgent appeal about the dangers of freezing children in their inbox.

We are truly grateful to work with dedicated organizations such as PetSmart Charities® and Covenant House, and to help them achieve their online fundraising goals. These awards and honors are a testament to their inspirational and life-saving missions.

View all the DMFA awards from Package of the Year.

This year’s NTEN conference opened in San Francisco with a video of Executive Director Holly Ross dancing to Beyonce’s hit song “Single Ladies.” Do I need to say more? Hopefully we’ll be seeing this video on YouTube sometime soon. The opening speaker, Clay Shirky, really hit home with the idea of Web 2.0’s “openness.” In this new media age, nonprofits can’t keep their brand, image, and message locked in a box. Even if they try to … “openness” will happen whether they like it or not.

Later in the day, I attended a great breakout session on communication to donors. The keyword at the session was “emotion” which made some of the techies in the room squirm. Social media, especially Twitter, were the hot topics this year. My favorite quote from the conference, which really summed up the hype about social media, was, “Before you invest time and resources in Twitter, your emails better look like this.”

It seemed that everyone at that conference wanted to talk about their successes, failures, and questions about social media. The person from HSUS said they raised $600,000 from a Facebook campaign, but to do so, they needed to build a Facebook application and a lot of staff time. I know we were at the NTEN (i.e. npo techy conference), but most nonprofit organizations simply don’t have resources to build Facebook applications, much less vigorously promote social media campaigns.

A question I posed during one of the sessions was, “How do donors renew from Facebook?” No one knew the answer. I suspect they will renew like an event donor or walk-a-thon supporter, constituents who don’t renew easily. Investing in donor relationships through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media might not turn an immediate profit, but the long-term branding and awareness benefits makes social media a worthwhile investment.

I believe that in the future we will see social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace become even more useful tools for building community for nonprofits. Organizations who already have huge brand recognition through direct mail, telemarketing, and online fundraising will undoubtedly continue to see significant donations through these sites. Smaller nonprofits, who are still finding their way into the social media market, must continue to make strategic decisions to capitalize on this growing trend.

At the conference, I took some time to take a look at mobile fundraising, which is currently at the point where online fundraising was more than a decade ago. The Mobile Giving Foundation has made mobile marketing an increasingly profitable fundraising tool for nonprofits. They have worked with the major mobile providers to wave their fees for processing donations. Although there is still a limit to the size of mobile donations, this was recently increased from $5 to $10. And what I’m most excited about is the ease with which donors can make recurring or monthly mobile gifts, a feature that gives this medium some real legs.

Last on this exciting topic is the ability mobile giving has to connect with Facebook and MySpace. This integration creates some interesting future potential to fundraise in this medium on a larger scale – giving fundraisers the ability to reach new audiences with micro-donations.

The weather was sunny in San Francisco, but windy and cold. Overall it was a great conference and I congratulate the NTEN team and all the volunteers for pulling off a very successful conference. As many conferences this year have struggled, the NTEN flourished. I’m looking forward to Atlanta next year, and to seeing if everyone will still be buzzing about Twitter, or “Tweeting” about something else.

By: Paul Habig, Executive Vice President, SankyNet

Gilda’s Club Westchester (GCW) is a community of people whose lives have been touched by cancer…all types of cancer. And when they decided to fully redesign their website, GCW turned to SankyNet to help capture all the caring they offer members, and put it online.

Our goal was to create a website that was as inviting, warm and comforting as the actual “clubhouse” located in White Plains, New York. But at the same time, we wanted to develop a robust online resource for those currently involved with the organization, as well as those recently diagnosed with cancer and looking for help.

Gilda’s Club Westchester provides support and networking groups, lectures, workshops and social events for men, women, children and teens in a home-like setting. And SankyNet was determined to design a website that would allow visitors to quickly and easily learn about these valuable services.

The new site boasts features that include an expanded calendar of events, information about joining Gilda’s Club and a soon-to-be completed online forum. In addition, SankyNet paid special attention to optimizing the site for online fundraising – this increased revenue will help sustain GCW programs that are provided to members free of charge.

For those of you who know Sanky Communications’ history, our founder Sanky Perlowin passed away from cancer 25 years ago. At the time of her death, there was no Gilda’s Club. Today, we are truly proud to partner with an organization that provides a welcoming community of free support for everyone living with cancer.

We invite you to learn more about Gilda’s Club Westchester by visiting their new website.

This year’s competition for the 2008 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence was especially fierce – which is why we are so honored to announce that our 2007 Holiday campaign for Covenant House took first place for e-philanthropy!

Gold Award judges complimented us by saying that with compelling copy, heartfelt stories and a positive message rounding out the ask, our Covenant House campaign “really covered all the bases.”

Tim O’Leary, vice president of McPherson Associates, said, “this is how you run an integrated, online campaign. The creative was eye-catching and clean, [and] crisp images draw the recipient further into the body of the e-mails.”

At SankyNet we have enjoyed our relationship with Covenant House for over four years. We are honored and excited to share this wonderful award with them!