Will Griffiths, Jeff Mello, and I attended the recent List Bazaar Summit held by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW). This conference is always a great opportunity to hear different perspectives on management and use of data. It’s a lot of fun to share experiences, and we always learn something new.

We know Avalon’s eFundraising programs are effective, but how do they stack up against industry benchmarks from M+R and Convio? We compared calendar year 2011 stats to the 2011 data from both benchmark studies. Not all of the sectors were an easy apples-to-apples comparison, but we can draw the following conclusions:

• Overall, Avalon’s online fundraising is on a par with, or better than, industry averages.
• Our open rates are particularly solid in the Arts and Animal Welfare sectors.
• Avalon Advocacy metrics are ahead of M+R’s, but not Convio’s this time.
• Response rates for Avalon clients are especially strong when compared to industry standards – these higher rates are mostly driven by our strong eRenewal series.
• Average gifts are robust overall, especially in the Arts segment.

As its website explains …Netroots (Internet + grassroots) refers to populist campaigns and movements sparked, promoted and conducted over the Internet….Think of the Netroots as a big political family. We may not agree on everything, but common threads connect us…

This year’s Netroots Nation conference featured progressives from all over the country, energized by the presidential election year, and ready to fire up the grassroots to organize and communicate online in new and exciting ways.

Here’s what we’ve seen and heard recently online:

• On August 1, Google is shutting down its testing tool, Website Optimizer, and there’s a lot of talk online about its replacement, and what alternatives might be out there. Some of the talk on M+R’s Progressive Exchange includes these positives and negatives about Google’s replacement, Content Experiments, which, “…provides less functionality (no support for multivariate testing, 3-month time-limit on tests, among other things). On the plus side, tests will be easier to implement, so inexperienced or beginning testers should be more inclined to use it.” For more discussion, the Progressive Exchange is here.

We’re thrilled to announce that later this summer, the Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW) will present Avalon with four MAXI Awards (that’s Marketing Award for eXcellence and Innovation) for our work.

This month, we bring you two more Avalon client case studies, describing year-end and eRenewal campaigns that were performing well – could we find room for improvement?

 

As with any nonprofit organization, the year-end appeal is typically the League of Women Voters’ strongest appeal. In the fall of 2011, on the cusp of the Presidential primaries, Avalon and the League sought to take advantage of the giving season and the League’s relevant issues in the news to maximize giving.

Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) held its fourth-annual gala this spring and announced that Johnson & Johnson and Walgreens are teaming up with a promotion called Care with PRIDE, in support of PFLAG and its Cultivating Respect: Safe Schools for All program. Safe Schools for All promotes safety for all students – including LGBT students – in public schools. PFLAG works with educators, parents, administrators, and students to end bullying and harassment through thoughtful programs and tools, with the overarching theme: listen/think/act/be respectful. Ellen DeGeneres’s mother Betty is featured in a video about the Care with PRIDE program here.

The Consumer Confidence Index dropped further in May, from its slight decline in April. Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, analyzes the situation, and what the new numbers might mean.

At some point, all nonprofits are affected by a major external event — a devastating natural disaster; a Supreme Court decision; a presidential candidate making an outrageous statement on their issues — and must turn on a dime to raise donors’ awareness and/or appeal to them for support.