The League of Women Voters has a mature prospecting program. Like many well-established direct marketing programs, it was necessary to prepare for the future marketplace and go beyond traditional trades and exchanges. Avalon designed a modeling program to increase the League’s ROI, and give it a competitive edge in the mailbox by more tightly targeting our prospective donors.

We wanted to share with you a couple more case studies from Avalon’s MAXI Award submissions – the first is a direct mail donor acquisition test, and the second a multi-channel campaign.

 

While our primary objective was to acquire new and valuable donors for our client Farm Sanctuary, it was also important to know if an acquisition audience would be more responsive to tragic or cute animal images on the carrier. The control package focused heavily on the cruelty of the factory farming system and featured a bleak image of a downed pig on the carrier. Conversely, we had had much success with an email campaign featuring a cute animal.

Having recently submitted Avalon’s Maxi entries (the Direct Marketing Association of Washington’s Marketing Award for eXcellence and Innovation), I’d like to share a few of our client success stories we’re most proud of:

 

League of Women Voters

Our donor acquisition control package for the League of Women Voters was performing respectably, but in 2011, on the eve of an election year, we decided to test a more timely message, and pare down our costs a bit.

We mailed a new Voter Protection package, including an official-looking "National Opinion Survey" carrier, a four-page survey involvement device, a letter, and buckslips that outlined how our voting rights are under attack and how the League is the only organization that’s qualified and able (with your help) to put the control of our democracy back in the hands of the people.

In January, Margaret Romig, Bill Tucker, and I attended Creating Change 2012, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 24^thannual conference on LGBT equality, where nearly 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates met to celebrate recent successes, and strategize about the challenges ahead.

 

One of the highlights of the conference was Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey’s State of the LGBT Movement address (read the address or watch the video here). She highlighted the major steps toward full equality that transpired in 2011 – from the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to marriage equality becoming law in even more states, to the elevated national conversation prompted by the bullying of gay kids and the subsequent new anti-bullying laws. And, the extensive changes made at the federal level urged by the New Beginnings Initiative.

To create a successful control package, advocacy/political groups need to balance two competing needs.  First, the package must be pertinent to the ever-changing political climate. Second, it needs to maintain enough of an institutional focus for prospective long-term donors.  The League of Women Voters’ current control is a great example of achieving that balance.

The 2010 End of Year Acquisition Advisor is just out from Names in the News. NIN’s comprehensive analysis reflects their database of 39 mailers, of which 29 were active in 2010 accounting for over 62.7 million pieces mailed, 500,000 new donors and $14.5 million in revenue last year.

What did they learn?

Client conferences are always a way to see one’s clients in action and to get in touch with their activists and supporters.  Inevitably, I come away from more educated, inspired, and energized.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s annual “Creating Change” conference amplified this feeling. More than 2,500 activists from a wide range of LGBT and progressive organizations gathered in freezing Minneapolis (thank goodness all activities were indoors!). The Avalon team was there in force, including Allison Porter, Barb Perell, Will Kraiger and myself.