The tangibility of paper makes this medium, and its message, more real to recipients. It creates a connection and memory that other channels do not. Digital of course still has advantages over paper such as interactivity and the potential for more sensory appeal but the tangibility of paper still creates an impact. Which, again, denotes the importance of using multiple channels.

A blog post from Neuroscience Marketing goes into more of the scientific details on digital versus paper.

1. Thou shalt be optimistic - Despite less than optimal economic conditions, individuals and businesses have not stopped their charitable giving. Instead, there has just been a change in giving patterns where donors are now opting for longer-term pledges and gift commitments. Learn more about this by clicking here. Also, as mentioned earlier more people are giving due to the new collective awareness of the importance of philanthropy. The economy has helped us all to focus on what’s really important.
2. Thou shalt recognize the importance of  email marketing – Frogloop, Care2’s nonprofit online marketing blog, conducted a survey and found out that even many well known (and nationally recognized) nonprofits are under-performing in their email marketing. According to another article, email accounts for 46% of content sharing activity on the internet which gives it a lot of potential in terms of “word-of-mouth” marketing. Also, email provides the option for real-time communication when thanking a donor for their contribution. This is very important because the quicker you can respond to them, the more likely they are to donate again in the future.
3. Thou shalt realize the effectiveness of direct mail - The Direct Marketing Association estimates that non-catalog direct mail returned $15.22 for every dollar spent in 2009. Also, several surveys have revealed that direct mail is one of the most effective ways to recruit new donors. It is also one of the best ways to provide donors and potential donors with new information not to mention that donations still come through mail so it’s important to keep that channel open. Click here for more insight on how direct marketing is often underestimated.
4. Thou shalt not underestimate the power of social media - Social media has opened up a new channel for fundraising. One success story that illustrates this involves Epic Change, a nonprofit that used Twitter to raise $11,000 in 48 hours to build a school in Tanzania. 98% of those who donated to this campaign had never donated to Epic Change before.  Social media has also opened up new doors for marketing. Individuals are becoming champions for their causes through social media and their support emanates through their social networks via news feeds and social share features for all their friends to see.
5. Thou shalt understand the need for cross channel marketing – Online and offline channels reinforce one another helping the message to stick. Click here to read about the increasingly important role of multichannel marketing for nonprofits or click here to read about the rising need for cross channel marketing in general.
6. Thou shalt engage donors - With the rise of the internet and social media donors are expecting to be more than just check writers. They want to interact and influence nonprofits and feel like they have a hand in the mission. Opening up two-way communication channels (i.e.-social media) to engage your donors and get their opinions/ideas allows for this kind of interaction.
7. Thou shalt have a stellar web design - A website is very important to potential donors when deciding where/how to donate. If a website is difficult to navigate, has content that is unclear, is too bulky, not consistent with brand image, etc. (the list of potential problems could go on) the responsible nonprofit organization decreases their chances of receiving all potential donations. It’s been estimated that with every click a potential donor has to take to find information or figure out how to donate that there is about a 40%  decrease in the likelihood that they actually will donate.
8. Thou shalt tell stories – It’s important for donors to feel connected to the mission of a nonprofit. Storytelling is more effective in accomplishing this rather than just giving straight facts and asking people to care. Tell stories about your organization, those positively affected by your organization, members of your organization, etc…anything that can help conjure up emotion and interest and create a connection between the potential donor and your mission. According to Network for Good, people don’t give to organizations they give to people.
9. Thou shalt not forget about planned giving - “Considering the average planned gift is 200 times the value of an individual’s largest major gift, cutting back on marketing them is an unwise choice.” (via PlannedGiving.com) Planned giving is often overlooked as it takes a more proactive approach to market this type of giving program but none-the-less the pay-off can prove to be worth it.
10. Thou shalt personalize donor communication – You can increase the likelihood of your direct mail being opened by 44% just by including the person’s name and 70% of people prefer personalized direct mail over generic direct mail. It’s becoming expected and almost necessary to personalize communication these days in order to achieve a desirable response rate.

I hope you found these commandments helpful.  Please feel free to leave comments or share any of your own tips! Happy fundraising!

You can use direct mail to drive traffic to your website by printing your website address on the mail piece along with any social media avatars, integrating social media or online promotions into direct mail campaigns, and/or sending out direct mail pieces to make announcements about online events. You could also invite current customers back to the site to provide feedback or reviews.

There was such a giant shift in marketing efforts from offline to online that online channels have now become too cluttered and something is needed to supplement these efforts…print media. According to one study direct marketing tactics (such as direct mail) are twice as likely to drive traffic to a website than digital marketing alone. In fact, 60% of the people surveyed felt that a personally addressed mail piece was more likely to drive them to visit a website than an email with the same message. That’s probably pretty surprising (and good to know) for people who strictly market online. To leave you with one more tidbit on direct mail; recent studies show that 63% of 18-34 year olds consider receiving direct mail to be “a pleasure”. There are so many opportunities when it comes to direct mail that are not being taken advantage of. Now is the time to utilize direct mail to both stand out from the competition and improve your online presence.

The beauty of the PURL is that marketers can collect information from visitors by asking questions and then use that information in the future to tailor any future communication to respondents. This concept of personalization and tailoring a message to a consumer/client can almost be defined as a necessity in the marketing world. There’s a definite shift towards personalization that is taking place in order to get your message heard. Some of the best ways to utilize PURLs are as follows:

• Qualify prospects before spending time and money on the wrong people – A PURL that includes a survey and some incentive to complete the survey can help to accomplish this.
• Gain customer insight – If your company is venturing into new markets, developing new products, or venturing into new territory otherwise PURLs can be used to get feedback from your target market and steer your efforts in the right direction.
• Optimize cross-selling opportunities – Customers may not be aware of or informed about the full range of products your company offers and therefore your company could be missing out on some cross selling opportunities. A PURL could be used to attract customers to a website where they can answer questions about their current product usage and preferences and once questions are answered proper suggestions may be made for cross-selling.
• Improve Direct Mail Response Rates -35% of people prefer to respond to direct mail offers online. This number is only going to continue to grow as technology continues to take over all methods of communication.

Despite these benefits that personalized URLs can provide most companies still do not utilize this approach according to the Direct Marketing Association. The impact of the PURL is not to be overlooked as it brings together traditional marketing approaches and digital interactive marketing approaches combining the best of both worlds. Click here to read some case studies of companies that successfully used PURLS in their campaigns; Hewlett-Packard, Pacific Northwest Bank, and Carlson Companies, Inc.