The Oak Hill Animal Shelter works hard to care for abandoned and unwanted pets. Year after year they helped local residents, both young and old, find the perfect household companion. When they needed to inform the town of a dire need, the board of directors needed a quick and effective way to pass the word around. Jenny Fuller, the director of animal care suggested they turn to direct mail marketing.
Springtime rains flooded a number of neighborhoods in our little corner of the world. Both homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed by the overflowing rivers. Insurance companies and home improvement stores had their hands full making sure that structures could be repaired and lives could get back to normal. Unfortunately for the Oak Hill animal shelter and its 53 inhabitants, repairs couldn't be finished quickly enough.
Jenny slogged her way through the knee high water of what was at one time a sleek, clean and safe home to dogs, cats, rabbits and the occasional snake. Walking down the aisle of enclosures, Jenny sees Max the Mastiff shivering in the corner while Penny the Persian howls in wet displeasure. How was the shelter going to afford to pay temporary housing for these adorable creatures along with the insurance deductible? The annual fundraiser was still not to the half way point.
They did it through direct mail marketing.
Jenny had read a report from Target Analytics about non-profit fundraising. In their paper "Index of National Fundraising Performance" for 2009, she remembered something astounding. In 2009 organizations participating in the survey showed that an average of 78% of their revenue came in through the mail. Another surprising fact was the percentage of new donors acquired through direct mail:
"As would be expected with overwhelmingly mail-based programs, most new donors are acquired through the mail. For index organizations in 2009 a median 87% of all new donors were acquired through the mail, while only 12% of all new donors were acquired online"
To Jenny those facts were important. The past three years the Oak Hill Animal Shelter had turned their marketing towards going viral and using the internet as a marketing tool. While the economy affected everyone during that time, non-profit organizations such as theirs were hit even harder. Making the decision to cut costs by eliminating direct mail and print advertisements was considered a good move at the time. Now it seemed that decision may have been off the mark.
Jenny and the board of directors learned an important lesson when it comes to marketing. Putting all your eggs into one basket and not using a multitude of baskets to sell a message can be harmful in the long run. A well rounded marketing campaign consists of many channels. Use them. All the instruments and tools available when organizing your next promotion can and does make any campaign more profitable in the long run. It may take a month or so to see a good return on investment, but the rewards will be worth it.
In the end, the OHAS not only acquired enough funds to house the building's inhabitants and rebuild the structure, along the way they also helped introduce some townsfolk to a community institution. Volunteering and adopts are at an all time high.
What kind of marketing have you found productive?
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