Getting Started with Integrated Fundraising
	Posted by Katy Jordan at Nov 20, 2012 07:04 AM CST

You may be a grassroots organization using an online CRM to set up, deploy and track every marketing endeavor. Or perhaps your organization uses an offline database to track direct-mail efforts and an online marketing tool to track online activities. Whatever the case, it’s vital to integrate all the supporter data you have in order to holistically understand their behavior and preferences.

Consider this example: You send a direct-mail appeal to Mr. Smith, and he sends you a $100 check. One month later, he goes to your website and makes a $50 donation. If you use only the online transactional history stored in your online marketing tool in your next email fundraising campaign, you could inadvertently downgrade Mr. Smith by asking for a $50 donation. But, if your data was integrated, you’d be able to format your ask string based on his entire giving history and go for that $100 gift.  

Whether you’re using online-only marketing channels or a combination of digital media, direct mail, events, telemarketing, television and more, the key to understanding campaign performance is to set up your marketing campaigns for proper tracking and analysis. While 100 percent clarity in attribution is nearly impossible in integrated campaigns, you want to understand the direct correlation and impetus for each donation you receive.

Consider this example: Your organization uses social media, email, direct mail, website and search engine marketing to drive awareness for a matching gift campaign. Ms. Jackson receives an email announcement about the campaign on May 1. On May 4, she receives a letter in her mailbox about the matching gift campaign with a specific URL (e.g., www.yourcharity.org/match2012). On May 5, she sees a campaign announcement on your charity’s Facebook page. On May 10, Ms. Jackson receives a reminder email telling her there are five days left to donate to the matching gift campaign. On May 12, Ms. Jackson makes a $35 gift to your charity on your website through a matching gift campaign button graphic that leads to a donation page. You reached Ms. Jackson through four touch points (two emails, Facebook, direct mail), and her gift came through a separate channel.

At the end of the campaign, your analysis shows: 72 gifts from email #1 yielding $3,672; 221 gifts from the direct-mail appeal yielding $7,514; three gifts totaling $31 from Facebook; and 92 gifts totaling $5,704 from the final email.

In using unique donation forms or source tracking for each channel, you are able to understand the overall campaign performance and how each touch point contributed to the total, but perhaps not what contributed to the donors’ behavior. Ms. Jackson’s gift would be technically attributed to the website, but which contact point truly drove her behavior? Was that final email reminder the piece that caused Ms. Jackson to give? Or did she see the direct-mail appeal in her mail pile and then go to your website?

To ensure your campaign’s success, make sure to set up each channel for optimal tracking, and formulate your ask strings based on complete donor data. Look at the total campaign performance to measure success, but drill down to each individual channel for campaign highlights or to find areas for improvement.

Don’t get overwhelmed -- focus on incremental improvements
New York City wasn’t built in a day … and you won’t achieve full integration in one campaign. Obstacles such as lack of data integration, staff resources, departmental siloes or technological barriers can make the process of integrated marketing a challenge. Some tips:

• Focus on incremental steps, incorporating one campaign at a time to reach your goal.
• Set up each campaign with a clear objective and for measurability.
• After each effort, assess the campaign performance -- did you achieve your objective? -- and then determine your next step forward toward integration!