Nonprofit
organizations can sometimes learn things about direct mail from
their commercial counterparts. But not every technique that’s
effective in a business mailing works when it comes to a
charitable one. Take outer envelopes.
Many commercial mailers have enjoyed success over the years by
tricking recipients into opening their envelopes. The tricks
have worked because Mr. or Ms. Consumer will open the envelope
out of curiosity or because they think it contains something
they want. Yes, most are disappointed upon learning the truth,
but enough people respond to make the devious methods worthwhile
to the mailer.
So why shouldn’t nonprofits stoop to the same level if the
tactics work? Because the companies that employ such approaches
are happy with a one-time sale. Nonprofits, however, need to
work on long-term relationships. And you don’t build a trusting
relationship on chicanery.
Tricks NOT to play
Here are a few envelope approaches to avoid:
STEALTH ENVELOPES: They give no hint as to who the sender is. No
logo. No name. No teaser. Not having a clue as to who mailed
them, the curious recipients open the envelope. It’s only then
that they discover who the author is and why they’ve written
them.
I received such an envelope just the other day from a well-known
nonprofit. It left me full of questions.
Why didn’t they put their logo on the OE? Are they ashamed of
who they are? Or don’t they realize that, as a donor, I welcome
messages from the charities that I support?
Even if I weren’t a donor, a message on the outside might have
put me into a frame of mind to pay attention to their appeal
instead of wondering which snakeoil salesperson was trying to
sell me something.
And what if I’d mistaken their package for junk mail and had
thrown it out before opening it? More importantly, what are they
going to do if, like me, donors become so ticked off at being
tricked that they refuse to donate the next time they’re asked?
Or what’s the charity going to do if, on the other hand, the
technique works? They can’t do it again, because the intrigue
factor will be gone and people will recognize them as the
sender.
Only works once
Stealth envelopes are one-trick ponies in every sense of the
word. And, shortsightedly, the nonprofit that used it on me went
for a single transaction instead of working to reinforce our
relationship. They showed me that they view our relationship as
a parasitic one in which I provide a donation and get no respect
in return, instead of a symbiotic one in which each party
contributes and both benefit in different ways.
THE CHEQUE IS IN THE MAIL: Almost everyone’s been hoodwinked by
this one. You look through the window of the envelope and see
what appears to be a cheque. You open up the envelope and
discover that the “cheque” is simply a reply device that’s been
made to look as though you’re in the money. And when you
discover that it’s you who’s supposed to write a cheque, how do
you feel towards the parasitic sender?
YOU MUST RESPOND NOW: Commercial mailers can use strident
language to create a sense of urgency. After all, they might be
promoting a sale, be making a limited-time offer, or have a
dwindling inventory of a particular item.
May be symbiotic
By screaming the necessity to “Act NOW”, they might actually
be acting symbiotically and doing the recipient a favour: the
seller generates revenue and the buyer saves money or gets a
bonus.
But as a nonprofit you don’t have the luxury of coming on too
strong. Even if you’re trying to raise funds for a desperate
situation like the tsunami, a hurricane or an earthquake, donors
aren’t going to leap to the rescue just because you order them
to. It certainly put a damper on my altruistic feelings when a
charity recently told me, “You have to act now.” My answer of
course was, “No, I don’t.”
It’s often good to look beyond the nonprofit world for direct
marketing inspiration and techniques that your charity can use.
Just keep in mind that, while segments of the corporate world
can thrive by acting like parasites and making transactions,
your organization lives or dies by the long-term, mutually
beneficial relationships that it makes and maintains.
For further information: Bob Knight, President and Creative
Director, Knight & Associates/SymbioMarketing consulting and
creative services, 4045 Cummins Place, North Vancouver BC V7G
2E8, 604/929-5015,
[email protected],
www.symbiomarketing.com. |