Future Fundraising Now

Fundraising is not journalism

Fundraising writing and journalism have something important things in common:

Both are built on a foundation of storytelling.

And that's about all.

Journalism is about information. It means to tell the whole story -- the who, what, where, why, when, and how. All the relevant details and all the available information. And doing so in as clear and neutral as way as possible. It's about giving people information. An ethical journalist does not try to lead readers in any particular direction other than knowledge. What people do with the information is not the journalist's concern.

Fundraising is about action. It tells enough of the story to motivate readers to donate. Details that don't help with that can be left out. It has a clear and unashamed point of view and a stated goal to influence readers. The story told in fundraising should always link in to the story of the donor.

Learning journalism is a great way to be good at storytelling: It's all about getting information from the real world, writing about it clearly and vividly, and doing it all on deadline.

But when it comes to telling a fundraising story, that's when you step away from many of journalism's well-defined rules.

Weird lessons from a fundraising return envelope

Take a look at a return envelope that recently came in the mail from Easter Seals. It's a donor cultivation piece (likely for a lapsed donor) that features a full-size wall calendar for next year.

But there are several interesting things about this lowly return envelope worth looking at:

It's a window return envelope.

That's probably because the piece is raising funds for a local affiliate of Easter Seals, but it's probably produced on a national level, which makes such an elaborate pack affordable. The return address for the donation is on the reply coupon, and there are likely many different local affiliates mailing it.

The first time I was involved in a mailing like this, I really worried that requiring the donor to place the reply device so its address would show through the window would hurt response. So we tested; it didn't hurt.

Some fundraisers use a window return envelope even if they don't have multiple return addresses. They do it to "force" donors to include the reply device, thus reducing "white mail." Also not harmful to response.

It's not postpaid.

Some people would say that breaks a rule -- that you should use a Business Reply Envelope to improve response. Guess what: It makes little difference whether you include a BRE or require the donor to find and affix their own stamp.

It has a "branded" security pattern.

Fun, huh? Since this mailing no doubt uses a very high quantity of return envelopes, it probably added little cost to manufacture them, making it easy to print on the inside and outside. Many years ago I did a test of a normal return envelopes against one with a security pattern. The security pattern did slightly better.

State registrations.

You're required to include those annoying state registration statements for all the states you mail into. But you can put them anywhere. The back of the return envelope is a great place to put it.

The return envelope may seem like a boring throwaway part of a direct mail pack. But it's worth spending a little time on. There are things you can do with it that make a real difference.

What should fundraising emails be like?

You might be surprised what works to raise funds online.

In short: Simpler is more effective.

Here are three tests from NextAfter that just might make you want to rethink how you do online fundraising:

Test #1: Simple and personal

How a radical redesign of an email appeal and donation page affected donor conversion rate.

This was a "radical redesign" of an email and its landing page, including:

• Much simpler email -- text only instead of the more designed control that had logos, a photo, "Donate Now" buttons
  
• More personal tone in the email that addressed the donor directly and colloquially.
  
• Simplified landing page: No photo, less design, overall less content.
  

Result: 272% increase in donor conversion. At statistically valid quantity.

Test #2: Person-to-person subject line

How a more personal subject line affects open rate

Control subject line: "Make this bold statement"; open rate, 16.9%.

Test subject line: "Checking In"; open rate, 33.6%.

That's nearly 100% increase in opens.

Test #3: Nix the video

How having a text based donation page and email vs video affects donor conversion rate

In the digital world, it's all about the power of video, right?

Maybe not. Look at this test:

Control landing page led with a 3-minute video that made the case for a donation. Conversion rate: 0.65% conversation

Test landing page: Text based (basically the same message as the video. Conversion rate: 4.1%.

That's a 527.54% improvement.

What does all this tell us?

Something like this: Keep your fundraising emails simple, uncluttered, and personal. Make them feel like they're from a person, not an organization.

Top 5 blog posts of the month

Here are the 5 most-read Future Fundraising Now blog posts in the month of November:

1. The case of the irrelevant fundraising envelope that really works

2. Your fundraising might just be "white noise" for donors

3. Is 2022 a bad year for fundraising? What about 2023?

4. How to use photos in fundraising [PODCAST]

5. What happens when you "dumb down" your fundraising