1. THE 2018 ANA/DMA RESPONSE RATE REPORT
Implications for the Nonprofit Development Officer
May 30, 2019

2. About Cathedral
National in scope with offices in California, New York, Rhode Island and Florida.
A century of experience in the development, implementation and evaluation of award winning high performing omni-channel campaigns for the commercial and nonprofit sectors.
Partners with the leading private and public institutions of higher education in the United States.
Premiere partner with Xerox and an Alliance Partner with the United States Postal Services.

3. The Start Of It All

4. Our Goals
Enhance your understanding of individual preference regarding use of varied media.
Posit a model that links consumer and donor behaviors.
Suggest how an understanding of those channel preferences can be applied to strengthen the performance of annual fund programs.

5. The 2018 ANA/DMA Response Rate Report
What is it?
Provides benchmark data for media performance within the commercial marketing community.
Self-reported data from 2,000 marketing organizations representing more than 25,000 commercial brands with an annual marketing and advertising spend of $400 billion.
Presents response rates and usage patterns for , direct mail, paid search, internet display ads, and social media ads.

6. I Can Already Hear the Objections
“But bald man with the bowtie, this report has to do with commercial marketing and the behavior of consumers – we are not Burger King”

7. Charitable Giving & Commercial Consumption
Economic
Social

8. Understanding Donor Behavior
In order to understand why people contribute, nonprofit development officers must do the following:
Seek an understanding of why people give to their cause.
Use that information to align their direct response strategy that drives long term commitment.
Understand that a technique is only a technique.

9. Understanding Donor Behavior
Critical research into determining the predictors of charitable behavior is scant and is also in conflict:
Genetic (Ensures the survival of the species)?
Learned Behavior?

10. The Cognitive Approach
Decision Making Model – Consumer
The subject of extensive and well documented research yielding an agreed upon information processing model for consumer behavior.
Who among you only buys a certain brand of a product?
Why? The features of the product are predictable – you know what you will be getting
Brand affiliation drives life time consumer value

11. The Cognitive Approach
All consumer decisions are based on information processing and a change in attitude precedes a change in behavior.

12. Information Processing
Seeks information
High involvement in decision making process
Extended Problem Solving
Little need to seek information
Low risk threshold
Limited Problem Solving

13. Information Processing and Affiliation
EPS – No Purchase/Non Engagement
LPS – Purchase/Engagement

14. Information Processing & Charitable Affiliation
Low problem solving decisions are prominent and dominant in the decision to support a charity.
Why do you give?
I was asked
To get rid of the asker
Makes me feel good
To be recognized by my peers
My faith tells me to
It is what I was raised to do

15. The 2018 ANA/DMA Response Rate Report
Direct Mail
Best response rate of all media with highest acquisition cost
Social Media
Drives brand and product awareness
Key Findings
Most often used channel with strongest ROI
Online Display
Lowest response rate of all media

16. Most Importantly
The use of multiple mediums to optimize response rates is the norm.

17. Usage Rates of All Media in All Campaigns

18. Response Rates for All Media

19. Return on Investment – All Media

20. Email – Continued Improvement in Response Rates

21. Email – Generates Affiliation

22. Direct Mail – Size Matters

23. Direct Mail – Increasingly Effective

24. Social Media – Improving Over Time

25. Social Media – Increasing Awareness of Product

26. Online Advertising – Drives Brand Awareness

27. General Implications Omni – channel is de rigueur
Is the fundraising program built in a modular basis using all channels in a complimentary fashion?
Are the channels being used for the right purpose?
Are you making the requisite investments to be successful?
Focus on the subject (donor) not the object (the message)
What is known about the donor and how do we leverage that knowledge in the ask or call to action?
Have you made the necessary investments to increase your knowledge about your constituents?
Be patient
Does the fundraising program seek to inculcate engagement before the ask is made?
Make it easy
Is it hard to do what you are asking for?
Pay attention to the data and be agile
Is your development program ‘set in stone’ or does it respond and adapt to changes in response?

28. Direct Mail Why is it still viable? What should I pay attention to?
Not permission based;
Gets to where it is going and is on target;
Form of your message is scalable; and
Volume is limited
Your data;
How the data is applied (personalization, messaging matrix);
Design; and
Linking it with other channels;

29. Email Things to be aware of What should I pay attention to?
People have multiple accounts and they change frequently;
By 2022, 333 billion messages will be sent daily; and
Nonprofit use will increase 11% by next year
The person matters, not the account;
Make the experience collaborative;
Link to other, personalized assets; and
Keep it simple

30. Social Media The Landscape What should I pay attention to?
The average American routinely maintains 4 social media accounts;
Usage of all accounts is consistent and persistent; and
Not all social media is created or used equally;
Videos rule the day;
Direct messaging elicits a direct response; and
Listen to content

31. Thank You
James Michael Kopp Vice President and Managing Director, Non-Profit Programs (518)