A few simple steps (for starters)

I know... tisk, tisk, tisk - one whole week and no response to Scott. I needed a short break to refresh and collect my thoughts. Time on the beach can be very restorative! I'm going to set aside the social networking topic for now and just address the first portion of his post. I must admit, I may have been focusing on "ideal world" situations a little too much in my last few posts. We'd all like to be amazon.com, but in reality, we have limits to our time and capabilities. So let's take a step back and consider what we can do. We can focus on our donor. We may not be able to segment solicitations such that the content speaks to the topics they are most interested in (right now), but we can find out how they want to hear from us. And we can take a few simple steps to do this:

1. Collect updated contact information in every appeal. On the phone,start by reviewing current contact information to get that updated. By mail, include a pre-populated update contact information form and ask constituents to review and update it. Via email, include an update contact information link with a prepopulated form that can be corrected and submitted electronically. We can do a better job of collecting updated information and then ask constituents one simple question - how do you prefer to hear from us -by phone, by mail, or by email.
2. Scott mentioned this a while ago, but I'll stress it again, when you're asking for updated contact information, provide the information you already have for each person even if it's wrong! It's in our nature to correct wrong information. I've talked with more than one client about filling in blank email address fields with "none" in order to persuade more constituents to add in the correct email address.
   
3. Ask for the preferred mode of communication - online, by phone, by mail. This will help you better allocate your resources to the solicitation method that will be most effective for that donor. This doesn't mean send only email to someone who prefers email, but it does mean that we need to consider their preferred mode of communication when sending solicitations. There is no point in sending every mailing to a constituent who tells you he prefers to be emailed information.
   

It seems so simple, yet so many institutions I talk with tell me they are not doing this. It takes time and resources to do this, but you will see a return on your investment. By communicating with constituents in a way they prefer, you're more likely to engage them, to elicit a response, and to secure a gift. So let's keep it simple (for now) and consider how you can add these steps into your strategy this fiscal year.