Your Nonprofit's Evolution to Multi-channel
	Posted by Guest Blogger at Aug 23, 2012 07:01 AM CDT

This article was written by guest blogger Jennifer Atkins, Director of Marketing Programs at Blackbaud. The article originally appeared in Blackbaud's blog, Connection Cafe.

Multi-channel! Multi-channel! Multi-channel!  It's all the rage, but do you know how close your organization is to achieving it?  We've taken a look at what that journey looks like for an organization and have broken it down into 4 major stages: early, traditional, coordinated and optimized -- I know, we deserve bonus points for our naming creativity, but hopefully they are at least clear!

I’ll go into a high-level view of each of these stages, but if you take a quick little quiz to find out where you’re at, you’ll get some really cool action plans for how to get to the next level!

Early Stage: Integration may be a goal but identifying how to get there can be a challenge.

• Minimal online marketing
• Calendar-based campaigning
• Not financially committed to a second channel

Traditional: You’ve moved some efforts online but they may not be coordinated with larger fundraising and communication strategies.

• Separate team and metrics for online marketing
• No calendar and/or campaign coordination
• Second channel constitutes 5-20% direct response revenue
• Separate databases for online/offline

Coordinated: You’ve conquered the structural challenges and are seeing results but can’t track cause and effect as well as you need to.

• Thematically integrated, some consolidation of data across channels
• Shared metrics 
• Limited sensitivity to solicitation frequency
• Decisioning beyond RFM modeling

Optimized: You’re pushing the envelope but are always looking for ways to increase engagement with your supporters.

• Unified strategy and real-time data integration
• Measure success across channels, not by channel
• Donors’ behaviors and interests drives communication stream
• Shared budget and resources

And just remember, small changes can equal BIG IMPACT!