The Convio Gods Must be Crazy

In a recent Convio webinar, Crafting Holiday Appeals That Work, they talked about the Multi-part appeal and the importance of creating a message calendar that showcases 7 types of appeals.

But the number of appeals they suggest seems crazy. Do any of us really want to get 7 emails between Thanksgiving and the last day of the year? Most nonprofits tend to focus on a single appeal one time during the year, which is a huge missed opportunity. I think there needs to be a happy medium between getting your message across without alienating any of your constituents.

It would be far more useful to take those 7 types of appeals, spread them out and intermix the other channels more heavily (mail, social media and email). They recommend at least one email going out per week during December (sometimes doubling up to 2 per week):
Email 1 – a traditional ask
Email 2 – gift membership
Email 3 – accomplishments
Email 4 – last minute gift giving
Email 5 – tax deadline
Email 6 – last chance
This schedule for just emails seems like too much. They do showcase some more reasonable multi-channel campaigns in their free download along with some other great ideas – Kick Start Your Holiday Campaign

Personally I would Spread it Out Like This

3rd week in November Touch 1 – As part of your monthly enewsletter feature a client story and an announcement to expect your direct mail piece, with full or abbreviated annual report, coming in the mail with link to donation page.

4th week in November Touch 2 – printed direct mail piece with a full or abbreviated annual report.

1st week in DecemberTouch 3 – email a mini version of the direct mail piece focusing on accomplishments with a link to a pdf version of the direct mail piece and/or annual report.

2nd week in DecemberTouch 4 – social media blast – a request for smaller amounts toward a specific program that your Facebook audience might find appealing.

3rd week in DecemberTouch 5 – as part of your monthly enewsletter, feature one of the ways people can give to you i.e. honorarium/memorial gift, planned giving, etc.

Last week in DecemberTouch 6 – Tax email – it’s not too late to donate.

Campaign Tips for 2011

1. Don’t send a bunch of donor-focused emails if you don’t send out any OTHER emails like a regular enewsletter. Regular news interspersed with asks is far more palatable – then your recipient doens’t feel used by an organizaiton with a one-track mind. See John Haydon’s blog entry – Your Donor is Not a Tomato Plant.

2. Communicate with your donors all year-round. If you keep your constituents well informed they are far more likely to donate, volunteer, become board members and they can easily see the good they are doing – See John Haydon’s Five Ways to Engage Supporters After the Campaign.

3. Try to create some kind of cohesiveness to your email campaigns so we recognize you and your brand – I received these 3 completely different-looking emails within 8 days from the same organization with no particular attention paid to branding. I received at least 3 others using the same design as the first design – this is what happens when you use templates – your brand gets lost.

4. Even if you DON’T have a specific branded look for your emails, the story can save the day – this story really stood out – the opening lines were great and enticed me to read all the way through – excellent! Just think what impact a great story AND a branded look would have!

5. If you’re going to do a “last chance” tax pitch – let’s get the wording right- I’m pretty sure the donor will not be getting a “tax donation”. It sounds good to me though – where can I sign up?

7DGF2FJ4VQ2G

Comments are closed.