Best Use of Direct Marketing 2015 Nomination Form Nominations should be in respect of activity completed during the organisation s 2014 financial year. This award will recognise the campaign that demonstrates the best use of direct marketing in fundraising for campaigns created in-house or in partnership with an agency. A direct marketing campaign is defined as the use of multi-channel tools to communicate and raise funds from potential donors including Direct Mail, SMS, Inserts, DRTV, Telemarketing. Criteria: The judges will award marks for: Innovation and creativity. Effectiveness in terms of financial and non-financial results. Overall execution and outcome of the campaign/project.
Nominator s Details (every line in this section is compulsory): Name:(must be a member of Fundraising Ireland) Jim Howe Job Title: Fundraising Manager Direct Dialogue Organisation: Concern Worldwide Address: 52-55 Lower Camden St, Dublin 2 E-mail: Jim.howe@concern.net Telephone: 01 417 7700 Nominee s Details (only if different from the above): Main Contact in Justin White the nominated organisation: Job Title: General Manager Direct Dialogue Organisation: Concern Worldwide Address: 52-55 Lower Camden St, Dublin 2 Email: Justin.white@concern.net Telephone: 01 417 7700 CHY: 5745 Please complete the following sections in full: Name of Campaign Nominated: Direct Dialogue Help A Child Grow Up Campaign Objectives: List the key objectives of the campaign and how it was carried out including the name of any agency that may have been used? (Max 250 words) Concern created an integrated direct marketing campaign that used face-to-face recruitment, SMS, email, telemarketing and direct mail. This campaign developed the donor s experience from their initial contact with a fundraiser and throughout their first six months with Concern. The key objectives for this campaign were: 1. Increase recruitment of New Donors to Concern. 2. Transition donor s relationship from the individual fundraiser to Concern. 3. Reduce non-starter rates 4. Reduce attrition rates
The aim of this campaign was to develop the quality of the relationship between the donor, Concern and the beneficiaries through the creation of an integrated donor journey. The campaign was built around the core proposition of Help a child grow up. Our agency, Open Fundraising was used to create this proposition and journey. - Street and Door fundraisers were given in-depth training and a full suite of props and materials to help them introduce the concept to potential donors they meet - Within hours of signing up, the donor received an automated, personalised SMS from the fundraiser - Two days after being signed up, the donor received a personalised email from the Street and Door Fundraising Manager in Concern - From day five, Concern s in house telemarketing team attempted a welcome call to say thank you, using personal details from the sign up experience - Within the first week, the welcome pack was sent out, including a welcome letter from the CEO, a tax form and a booklet detailing Concern s work, told through the stories of children who are already being helped - For the first six months of giving, each donor then received an SMS or email each month after their regular donation was processed. These were positive updates about people who have been helped thanks to the support of donors such as the recipient. Forecasting: How did you intend to measure success? Please list the key performance indicators for this campaign. (Max 250 words) As this campaign consists of a variety of elements over a long period, the key criteria to measure the success were: 1. Recruitment Figures: based on New donors, upgrades and downgrades 2. Non-starter rates 3. Attrition rates Individual KPIs for each element of the process were also set up. Rationale: Why was the direct marketing approach deemed to be the best approach? (Max 250 words) Concern s regular giving programme has been reliant on street and door fundraising since 1999. Although very successful with the in-house department set up in 2002, this recruitment channel was facing challenges due to the saturation of the audience and increasing competition. The number of failed first payments and attrition figures in the first year were increasing, along with the number of donors
reactivating, upgrading and downgrading on the street and door. It was decided that a direct marketing journey was needed in order to address these issues and improve the quality of the conversation and communication with donors. The street and door recruitment strategy was incorporated into the overall direct marketing campaign, as this was the first contact a donor would have with Concern and this needed to be consistent with all messaging for the first six months of their donor journey. The hours and days immediately after sign up are critical in forming a connection with Concern and the integrated direct marketing campaign ensured that the donor could be welcomed, thanked and made to feel appreciated. Recent reports suggest that donors post-recruitment experiences are often not as engaging or rewarding as their recruitment, resulting in higher attrition rates. The non-starter and attrition rates for Concern donors have increased year on year. Therefore, the decision was made to link recruitment and retention in a combined direct marketing campaign in order to maintain engagement and develop the donor s relationship with Concern over a long term period to stem attrition. Segmentation: To what extent, if any, did you segment the mailing into different groups and if so, why? If segmentation was used was it successful and why? (Max 250 words) The groups were not segmented as donors were contacted based on the fact that they had signed up for a regular gift. These donors included: - Donors who are new to Concern. - Donors who gave in the past and have now reactivated their regular gift. - Donors who gave cash gifts or participated in challenges and have now converted to regular giving. Reach: How many people did this campaign reach? The reach is difficult to quantify as there are so many touch points and elements of the Help a child grow up campaign. However, reports from FRSB and the PFRA in the UK suggest that the door teams would have had approximately 70,000 meaningful conversations to achieve the number of donors signed up, and the street teams would have made more than 500,000 requests for conversation, to achieve the number of donors they signed up. Results for the twelve months of 2014 for the new campaign show that: - 10,147 donors were recruited via street and door combined
- 89% of donors received a welcome call from the telemarketing team - Approximately 93% of donors received a welcome pack - 49% donors received monthly updates via SMS - Approximately 40% donors received monthly updates via email, as priority was given to SMS and donors would receive emails if they had not supplied a mobile number - 88 % received combined updates. Creativity: How did you ensure that your creative stood out? Please attach a soft copy of any printed materials. (Max 250 words) The proposition for the campaign was designed to be extremely clear and convey a heartfelt message to new donors Will you help a child grow up? Communication focused on the ways children had been helped. This campaign was not about raising brand awareness. It was about introducing donors to real people whose lives are being changed thanks to their regular donations. All elements of the journey process followed similar branding and themes, strengthening the message to the donor, reinforcing that they had made the right decision in donating to Concern. Each marketing channel conveyed these messages in the manner most suitable for their medium: Fundraisers: Fundraisers were given a new theme, uniform, props and proposition to physically connect donors to the impact of their donations. They were representing Concern s Community Health Workers with all conversations on message. Mail: The welcome pack had in-depth stories about beneficiaries and Concern s programmes. Elements of Concern s work such as community health workers and the 1,000 days campaign, as discussed by fundraisers, were included in this pack. Telemarketing: The calls were personalised based on donor details and the conversation allowed the donor to ask questions and learn more about other aspects of Concern s work. Email and SMS: These were short and snappy messages, showing pictures and stories that assure the donor that giving to Concern does make a difference in people s lives. Again, these stories followed on from the themes used by the fundraisers and in the welcome pack. The recurring elements used in the campaign were children, health, nutrition, success stories and Concern branding.
Innovation: To what extent was the campaign innovative? (Max 250 words) A key aspect of this campaign was creating a seamless handover between the fundraiser and Concern. The fundraisers use digital data capture, so donors details were instantly sent through to Concern s database. This resulted in contacting donors within hours of recruitment with a personalised, friendly message. This same principle applied to the personalised email that donors received within days of setting up their regular gift. This instant contact developed a connection between Concern and the donor before the first gift had been made. This was a crucial element in tackling non-starter rates. The campaign tailored communication to fit in with donors increased use of technology and incorporated SMS and email in to the welcome process. In the last two emails that donors received, they were provided with links to share on social media. Priority was given to SMS updates due to their high open rates and all donors who provided mobile phone details received the SMS version of the update. The campaign took an interesting approach, as the variety of channels used allowed the donor to be contacted a total of five times within their first month without feeling bombarded by marketing materials. The personalisation of messages created a connection between the donor and Concern which was nurtured over the subsequent six months through SMS and email updates. Integration: Please explain how you integrated the various channels (e.g direct mail, DRTV, DR Radio, direct recruitment, telemarketing, and other channels) (Max 200 words) Concern developed a campaign that integrated: - street and door fundraisers - direct mail - telemarketing - SMS - email The donor was made aware of upcoming communications so that the various elements related to each other: - The fundraiser told the new donor that they will receive an SMS later on in the day. - Several hours later the donor received an SMS from the specific fundraiser
they were speaking with. This explained that the donor s details have been passed on to a colleague in Concern. - Two days later the donor received a personalised email from the manager of the fundraising team in Concern explaining that they have received their details from the fundraiser. The donor was also told that they will receive a letter of confirmation and a phone call. - Within the first week the donor received the welcome pack and a call from a telemarketer. The telemarketer mentioned the welcome pack in the conversation and explained that the donor would receive monthly updates. - The donor received monthly updates as the last step in the process before they fell into the normal retention programme. Longevity: Would you run a similar campaign again? Please explain why. (Max 100 words) The campaign has been running since November 2013 and is an on-going process. For each individual donor, the campaign lasts six months. Due to the success of this campaign, it will continue to run for the foreseeable future. Results: What were the actual financial results and how did these compare to your original forecasts? (Please include net and gross income and ROI % figures) (Max 250 words) The key financial aims of this campaign were to achieve an increase in new donor recruitment and better retention of regular givers in order to increase long term income. The figures for 2014 recruitment show: Non-Starter Rate Prior to the welcome process, the average non-starter rate for 2013 was 16% The average F2F non-starter rate has dropped to 4% Recruitment Figures The number of donors new to Concern increased from 66% to 78% Attrition rate Currently: 75% of the file is still active Month 1: Pre-Campaign process, the average Month 1 attrition rate was 18%. The average Month 1 attrition rate for 2014 recruitment has decreased to 11%
Month 2: Pre-Campaign process, the average Month 2 attrition rate was 20%. The average Month 1 attrition rate for 2014 recruitment has decreased to 15% Month 3: Pre-Campaign process, the average Month 3 attrition rate was 22%. The average Month 1 attrition rate for 2014 recruitment has decreased to 18% Month 6: Pre-Campaign process, the average Month 6 attrition rate was 30%. The average Month 1 attrition rate for 2014 recruitment has decreased to 25% Overall, the results show the Help a child grow up campaign to be immediately effective, with attrition and non-starter rates decreasing considerably while the number of new donors recruited by the fundraisers increasing. Based on the number of additional recruits each month and their average retention rate, Concern should break even on investment within 2.5 years. The return on investment over five years should be 3.70 for every 1 spent. Other Outcomes: Please provide any other relevant information such as: the number of people directly helped by your initiative and the changes or outcomes they experienced. Did it help to create a stronger link between the donor and your organisation? E.g. did many offer to volunteer for your organisation etc?(max 300 words) Internally, this was an innovative project for Concern to work on as it brought different teams together and really closed the gaps on the donors experience. This was a great learning experience for us and ultimately had a good impact on donors and overall income. The impact of having better engagement between the donors and the beneficiaries will have long term advantages to their relationship with Concern. Ultimately a good recruitment experience and strong stewardship should result in better upgrade prospects, more likely to cross-sell to other types of giving and a connection with Concern when emergencies happen etc. The response that we received from the public on this campaign has been really positive. The information discussed on the street with the fundraiser is relevant, interesting and compelling which really helps to bring what is often a distant problem closer to home for a lot of people. Authenticity Guarantee: I confirm that to the best of my knowledge, the nomination is legal, decent, honest and truthful.*
* Entries must be submitted by a charity and not an agency, consultant or other commercial supplier. Date : 23/01/15