Just Say No to Developing a Multi-Channel Strategy this Holiday Season
	Posted by Guest Blogger at Sep 19, 2012 07:00 AM CDT

Guest blogger Chas Offutt is Senior Strategy Consultant at Blackbaud.

Okay, now that I have your attention, how can I say such a thing from a perch of all things multi-channel?

It’s simple. Multi-channel marketing is a strategic approach, or a paradigm shift that defines your organizational structure, departmental values, and relationship to donors. Year-end fundraising, on the other hand, is not about building your organization’s theme song; it’s about capitalizing on recruitment from the year and raising money. A lot of money! For many organizations, this equates to more than 40% of total annual fundraising.

This is not to say that multi-channel marketing is not an effective approach to fundraising (because it definitely is), but if you’re new to the multi-channel arena, year-end is not the ideal time to define your strategic program. Let’s be realistic: You’re already balancing quite a few balls in the air as the most important time of year looms, and the last thing you need is to be overwhelmed with defining a multi-channel strategy for your organization.

That said, there are five things you can do today in preparation for the year-end push that will raise more money, help inform your multi-channel strategy (beginning January!), and build departmental inroads:

1. Let direct mail drive the bus. Preparing the mail piece is extremely important -- as well as time consuming -- but will undoubtedly raise the bulk of year-end dollars. Why share with only your direct mail audience? Repurpose the messaging concepts and visual imagery for a multi-part email series to ensure a consistent year-end ask.
2. Lengthen the holidays. Want a year-end gift that keeps on giving? Easy: spread out the holiday spirit. A successful year-end campaign can be broken into three phases to help diversify the offerings during: November gift giving (e.g., gift catalog); December appeals (e.g., annual fund multi-part email series; see above); and December 30th and 31st tax-deductible benefits (e.g., last chance to give).
3. Predice future value from history of giving. To be relevant to donors, recognize your audience’s past giving, and message -- or strategize -- appropriately. Remember, frequency of pre-giving is a predictor of how valuable they are in the 24 month period. Essentially: segment, segment, and segment your audience!
4. Appeal to emotions. Pull on those heart strings, but remain positive. A successful emotional tug uses imagery to align dollars to the services provided. Not only does it provide a tangible breakdown of the financial impact, but it also allows your donors to more easily digest your program’s needs.
5. Capture and convert visitors online. We all understand the goal during year-end is to convert donors, but it needs to be hyper clear to your website visitors. If a donation button should be found in two seconds or less, your year-end ask should greet all visitors. A great tool to welcome visitors to your website and convey a timely message is the use of a Lightbox. Don’t make a donor search to make a gift online!

In summary, year-end is not about crafting your organization’s multi-channel marketing strategy: it’s about raising money. If you’re new to the multi-channel playground, don’t worry -- and more importantly -- don’t rush it. Multi-channel marketing is a cultural shift for many organizations, and adoption can take some time. Be sure not to let the transformation compromise your year-end objectives. A successful year-end campaign that adheres to the five steps above will inevitably pave the way for your organization’s multi-channel strategy in 2013.