Alberta Business Marketing

Recently, Cornerstone concluded a study of our Fundraising Clients’ 2009 mailing activity versus 2008. Results from early in the year showed a significant decline in mailing levels – particularly in the area of new donor acquisition. Overall, our clients mailed 12% fewer solicitations in 2009 than in the previous year, including both prospect and house file mailings. Although mailing levels increased to previous levels for existing donors by the end of the year, prospect mailings continued to be significantly reduced.

So what will be the impact of that decline in volume? The good news is that response rates and revenue per donor increased in 2009 for both prospect and house file mailings, indicating that fundraisers have a stable base of high quality current and future donors. However, those fundraisers who severely curtailed their prospecting activity in 2009 will be in a weaker position in 2010 due to smaller growth in their house files – which represents the most lucrative source of ongoing donation revenue available.

Moving in to 2010, we recommend that Fundraising Clients start prospecting more aggressively again to make up for this shortfall. Results from 2009 demonstrated that Canadians are clearly willing to give and smart fundraisers will want to benefit from their generosity.

For Cornerstone’s complete 2009 Direct Mail Performance Analysis, click here.

By Kamy Zarbafi, Vice President, Publishing Services/Fundraising Services, Cornerstone Fundraising Services and Chair of CMA’s Not-For-Profit Council

Tags: Not-for-Profit
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

That’s the question on every fundraiser’s mind right now. So what impact has the global recession had on direct mail fundraising in 2009? Recently, we undertook a study of our Client’s 1st quarter acquisition and retention activity to find out and there were some interesting results.

The first significant finding was that our Clients reduced their efforts to acquire new donors via direct mail during the 1st quarter of 2009. Total outbound solicitations dropped 42%, while responses and donation revenue dropped at an even greater rate of 73% and 60% correspondingly. One bright note however – those prospects who did respond donated more on average. While the reduction in new donor acquisition likely saved fundraisers money in 2009, it could have a significant impact on their ability to fundraise in 2010 and beyond.

Surprisingly, there were 13% fewer solicitations to house files in the 1st quarter of 2009 versus 2008. Those donors that responded contributed more than in previous years. The average gift climbed by almost 3%, resulting in an increase in the gross revenue per mail piece. However, as with prospects, existing donors responded less frequently than in previous years – although the decline in response was no where near as severe as with prospects.

So what can we take away from these results? There seems to be no question that fundraisers were cutting campaigns in early 2009 as a result of the recession. However, given the results from the mailings that did occur, it’s unclear whether that strategy was the right one. In the case of house mailings, response rates stayed relatively consistent with the previous year while average gift increased indicating that those fundraisers who cut back on their house programs left money on the table. In the case of prospect mailings, results were down. However, those fundraisers who did prospect will be in a much better position to take advantage when the recession ends as they’ve added to their house file. So while it appears that Canadians are giving less in 2009, those organizations who continue to fundraise will stand to benefit during a recovery when Canadians begin to open their wallets again.

Authored by Kamy Zarbafi, Vice President Publishing Services/Fundraising Services at
Cornerstone Fundraising

Tags: Not-for-Profit
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off