Discover How Your Charity Can Help More People
Be Creative with Gift Marketing
Tactile items are such an effective way to engage with your audience, especially in the charity sector. Direct mail, leaflet distribution and posted branded gifts combine to create marketing that encourages a positive response. For example, Marie Curie commissioned us to provide a 500,000 direct mail campaign with a letter and three-dimensional daffodil badge inserted in each envelope, resulting in a great return. Often the more creative you are, the more memorable your charity will be, and the higher the response.
Make Your Marketing Relevant
With all the marketing we perform for charities, the purpose and desired audience dictate how and where we market your charity. Therefore, it's vital to make your marketing relevant to the receiver. Thus, we consider the demographic targeting, graphic design, print format, and type of delivery together to create a coherent marketing campaign. We will discuss your goals with your campaign, establish the target audience, create the design, print them, and deliver bespoke for you.
The Most Important Strategy for Marketing Charities
Below is an overview of strategies for the most common campaigns charities request. Irrespective of the category you fall into, the fundamental ingredient for successful charity marketing is regularly repeating to the same audience, known as drip marketing. People rarely respond to something on the first view - especially when asked to part with their money! Whereas when you communicate to the same audience regularly, you build up awareness, trust, and ultimately, engagement. At the very least, repeat to the same audience with a 4-6 week gap, with a new design and print format for each.
New Donators. Broad Audience.
1. Targeting
To attract new donors from a broad audience, we would ordinarily recommend our leaflet distribution service. Price-wise, you have about five times the reach compared with direct mail. In addition, leaflet drops are incredibly effective at building brand awareness, brand trust, and, most importantly, brand engagement. Generally speaking, we recommend using a radius from your location with broad audience marketing - the budget often dictates the radius potential.
2. Message and Design
The design and print format must appeal and be relevant to various demographics, which can be challenging. Keep information clear and concise. The headline must appeal to the audience, the image must be eye-catching and thought-provoking, and the call to action must be clear.
3. Call to Action
Give two clear options for how to respond, one by post and one online. A perforated tear-off slip to post is ideal. But, equally, have a QR code linked to a simple mobile-friendly online giving page.
New Donators. Younger Generation.
1. Targeting
When looking for new donors, more often than not, we will recommend starting with leaflet distribution as the reach is more extensive, and yet demographic targeting is still available. We provide your charity with complimentary demographic targeting reports so you can ensure you reach areas with a predominant younger generation local to your charity.
2. Message and Design
For the younger generation, keep your message short, use bullet points and include an eye-catching image. Articulate how they can help someone they can relate to (e.g. sibling, parent, grandparent) and what impact their donation can make (e.g. £10 p/m does this, £20 p/m does this, etc.); the tangible benefits. Generally, designing to print on an A5 double-sided flyer will be ideal for this audience.
3. Call to Action
The more tech-savvy donors expect the donation process to be simple, fast and online. Use your mailer to invite them to a link (ideally a QR code) with a simple DD and/or one-off donation page. If possible, make this a unique landing page so you can track the effectiveness and ROI of the campaign. If they need to print/post/write something, you will lose them unless they are incredibly passionate about your charity.
New Donators. Older Generation.
1. Targeting
For this audience, reverse most of the advice for the younger generation! Indeed remain with leaflet drops over direct mail, and again we can provide a complimentary demographic report, this time of the older generation within your given locality.
2. Message and Design
Generally speaking, the older generation appreciates more information so they can make a considered decision. An A4 folded to A5 leaflet will probably be the minimum recommended size here so that you can fit ample details and images. Where budget permits, it is very effective also to provide a perforated return form and a stamped pre-addressed return envelope. We print special leaflets that can do all this as one item.
3. Call to Action
A QR code or invitation to visit a website should be an option as the older generation are much more tech-savvy now. However, the predominant CTA should be to complete the perforated slip, enclose it into the attached envelope, and post it free of charge back to you.
Direct Mail for New Donors
Direct mail can generate new donors along with engaging with existing ones. So it is more appropriate than leaflet distribution when you're looking to target a particular audience. For example, many companies have a Corporate Social Responsibility mandate (CSR), and a like-minded charity could be the perfect fit.
Use direct mail to reach the decision-makers of businesses in your area that you believe would make great corporate partners. For this, you need to propose a win-win outcome for the company - as much as they may make an emotional decision, they still must justify it with financial logic to their stakeholders. For instance, offer exposure, brand enhancement, networking, backlinks, the opportunity to provide their services to your charity, and so on.
Equally, direct mail can reach consumers, too—we can supply data on people who have given to charities frequently, along with other parameters to target people specifically, with a personalised mailer.
Existing Donors.
When communicating to existing donors, avoid the temptation to just ask for increased giving. Instead, they need to see the benefits of their existing giving and feel appreciated for their financial sacrifice. Here are three practical ways to build relationships with existing donors.
1. Communicate via Direct Mail
When engaging with existing donors, keep them up to date on how their donations directly impact people. With direct mail, we can personalise each item you send to them. Include testimonials, facts, figures, enhancements to facilities and more.
2. Show Appreciation
One of the best strategies to grow loyalty and advocacy within any charity is to show genuine appreciation to your donors. Here are some appreciation ideas:
- Thank you letters, which update people on how their giving is making a difference. Maybe even a testimonial and photo from a patient.
- Greetings cards. If you have their DOB in your data, send them a birthday card. If not, be sure to send Christmas cards.
- Gifts. Something as simple as a branded pen, diary or notebook shows appreciation and will resonate with the receiver.
- Invite them to a special event, such as a charity dinner, a sponsored walk, or the opening of a new building.
3. Ask for Referrals
In sales, salespeople are taught to ask for one or two quality contacts their client considers ideal for their particular product. By explicitly asking for just one or two and categorising them as 'quality contacts', people often consider their referral carefully and understand the type of referral they are after.
Your charity can use this same technique and ask existing donors about one or two people who are as passionate as they are about whatever your charity does. Within your mailer, you could maybe have two referral/invitation cards that they can distribute.
Next Steps
With everything above, our role is to make the whole process simpler, faster and cheaper for you. Our consultative approach means our sales consultants are here to provide tailored advice for your charity and take away your stress of planning impactful campaigns.
With graphic design, print management, direct mail, leaflet distribution and our revolutionary hybrid mail, there are many services for charities, and our sales consultants can recommend bespoke to your charities goals. Therefore, please get in touch with us today.
