Direct Mail, Marketing and Advertising
Open discussion to share top ideas
that attract new donors and
steward existing donors. 1
Big Shoulders Fund – Holiday Campaign
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Lessons Learned – Holiday Campaign Objective: Increase exposure of Big Shoulders Fund brand and name to more
professionals. Raise additional funds from new donors. Target Audience: Chicago Transit Authority Riders and Metro Riders Means: Purchased station saturation and advertising during holiday season.
Had carolers from schools stand outside stations and hand out flyers with information about Big Shoulders.
Results:• Increased goodwill, but difficult to track impact or new donors. • Some increased visits, but no significant jump (less than $500) in
online donors or visits immediately after. Results:• Reframed outreach to focus as a thank you and awareness builder.• Reduced advertising costs, but increased presence of carolers at train
stations from one to three locations. • Picked up news coverage on 3 major local television news and one
print paper.
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How do we measure the return on investment of advertising
initiatives?
Is it worth the money invested?
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The State of Direct Mail
Online Success Stories
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Successful Outreach – Online Presence
Website E-appeal
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Successful Outreach – Online IncreaseObjective: Increase the number of donors, especially online, to Big Shoulders
Fund at a variety of levels. Target Audience: Chicago-area young and mid-level professionals. Tech-savvy. Means: Establish advisory boards, events, and greater online presence
(revamped website; secure portal; Facebook; Twitter; LinkedIn) that provide a variety of access points and initiatives that effectively engage individuals with different personal and professional motivations.
Results:• Two Advisory Boards with membership at 250 combined. All donors.• Online following (319 Fans & 226 members on Facebook; 127
members LinkedIn; 37 Followers on Twitter)• Annual E-appeal targets new and existing donors• Increased online giving (no. of donations and dollar amount) more
than six-fold in the last four years.
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Successful Outreach – Online Donors
Increased number of new donors who make first gift online.
Online giving has increased by over six-fold representing all levels through Auxiliary Board, Events and Other Donors
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Direct Mail
•Lists
•Premiums
•Future of Direct Mail
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New Acquisition Ideas
• What Worked?
• What Didn’t?