With this question, I am not just referring to the amount of impressions, clicks or conversions. This type of data should only be the starting point in your data collection. Just because your new awareness campaign resulted in thousands of new names does not mean that these new constituents will result in dollars toward your cause. It is critical to understand how much money a name in your online file brings toward your organization. Simply divide the total amount raised online by the amount of names you have in your online file. This data becomes substantially much more valuable if your organization is able to target specific segments of your file. With proper segmentation you have the opportunity to assign financial value to names acquired through mediums such as social media acquisition, pay per click campaigns and banner advertising or based on specific campaign performances.

While this metric absolutely cannot be viewed in a vacuum because of many variables, it can provide a realistic look at how your file responds financially once they have come on. What is so exciting about this metric is how unique it is to your organization. Not only will this metric help define the value of acquisition for your program but, it also demonstrates the current state of your communication and fundraising efforts and will help identify the next steps to take in the development of your program.

Many organizations are reluctant to spend money into developing campaigns that focus on acquiring new names. To invest in a campaign where the direct focus is not on donations, often will illicit concern from individuals leery of the investment, particularly with interactive mediums. Having visibility on social media, search engines and throughout the Web has significant branding value, but at the end of the day, providing a specific value to each name acquired can really make acquisition campaign decisions easy.

An organization we work with was presented the opportunity to acquire new names at $5 cost per name by expanding their campaign through additional channels. This name acquisition campaign had begun less than a year before, and had seen excellent results. Though the names had been on the file just over 6 months, we were able to pull data on this segment to associate a value through 6 months for each name. Utilizing a targeted Welcome series, a strategic communication plan, an engaged social media plan and a Web site optimized for fundraising, we were able to quickly turn these newly acquired names into donors. A segment that consisted of 9,223 acquired names resulted in $124,390 in donations. In this case in just 6 months, each name acquired had a value of $13.49. Keep in mind the 6 month timeframe is shorter than we would prefer to use, but this price point makes the decision to invest $5 for an email address very simple. Needless to say, the campaign continues to be successful, and new names continue to be converted to donors. With our new data we can begin to project and model the LifeValue® of these new donors, but we will save that for another discussion.

Are you looking for more opportunities to increase your donor file? Let us help you!

This hour long forum was densely packed with valuable information that we have spread over three blog posts. Here are the take away points from the middle of the presentation:

1.) Offering check-only payment for donations reduces giving.

• Older donors write checks less frequently
• The world is moving away from using checks to pay bills and make donations
• Donors want payment options. In addition to the direct mail reply device, be sure to include online giving options in your appeal
• Younger donors write no checks, or at the most, one or two checks a month for their rent and car payments

2.) Online giving for most direct mail donors starts with the direct mail appeal.

• The best approach to online giving for direct mail donors starts with a unified multichannel direct response offer included in the familiar direct mail appeal
• When direct mail and online messages, themes and offers are not aligned it may reduce income and confuse the donor
• REMEMBER: Donors have one relationship with your organization, not separate offline and an online relationships
• Review your communications schedule to ensure that your direct mail and online appeals are in sync and both offer an online donation option
• It is crucial that your online and direct mail messages are always consistent

Donors with a high propensity to give online can be located using outside data.

• Households can be matched with known “digital neighborhoods,” online banking, credit card use, online catalog buying behavior and many other indicators
• Models have now been perfected with other nonprofit organizations that allow donor households to be ranked in the likelihood that they will give online
• Households who rank high on these scores are the best candidates to target for online giving

3.) When direct mail donors begin giving online their giving increases from 35% to 50% per year.

• Online donations are typically higher average gifts than direct mail donations and thus an increase in donor value
• In many cases when the organization does not offer online giving the donor has been suppressed because they have already given online to other organizations and prefer the instant communication that comes with giving online
• Donors who give to both direct mail and online campaigns have the highest value—in one organization the annual value of the “both” donors was $1600 a year
• Many direct mail donors move to online monthly auto debit donors. As a result, their donor value increases

4.) Online donors are the most likely donors to sign up for monthly auto debit giving.

• Monthly auto debit giving is the most promising avenue of increasing regular stewardship
• It is already becoming the backbone of donor support from younger donors in some organizations
• Promoting monthly auto debit donations is the next logical step to increasing consistent donations

In conclusion, offering multichannel giving options can:

• Increase your organization’s donor income for every donor that begins to give online
• Produce an increase from 35% to 50% when donors begin to actively give online
• Bring back lapsed donors and increase donor retention
• Result in larger average donations, because online donors typically give larger gifts, give more often and easily make the transition into monthly auto debit donors

Download the full slide show presentation.

If this article peaked your interest in strengthening your multichannel marketing efforts with online integration please contact us today for more info. Or catch us on Twitter – @is7interactive to see additional great content about nonprofit marketing.