Last Thursday, nearly 1000 members of our GiftWorks community were treated to an extremely productive webinar with veteran fundraising writer Mal Warwick. He discussed the art and science of writing fundraising appeals that work - for direct mail, email and telephone - and demonstrated with very specific examples. We are grateful to Mal for sharing his expertise with us, and very glad that we can bring such talent free-of-charge to our GiftWorks community.
We would be glad to share his handouts with you - please email us atinfo@missionresearch.com and we will sign you up for our eNewsletter (and invitations to future events), plus we'll send you Mal's webinar handouts that include How to Write Brilliant Appeals, and The Cardinal Rules of Fundraising Letters(and How to Break Them).
Here's an interview with Mal from our recent eNewsletter for your reading pleasure...
Mal Warwick: "It’s not all technology;
remember the basics of a successful appeal"
We recently spoke with Mal Warwick, fundraising guru and the presenter of our webinar, How to Write a Successful Fundraising Appeal (March 18, 2:00 pm EST), about the place of the direct mail letter in today’s ever-more-technological world of fundraising.
“Nonprofits use what’s called ‘direct marketing’—direct mail, telemarketing, and email—to raise much of their money, usually in the form of gifts of less than $200. The great preponderance of those funds still comes through direct mail," Warwick said.
The list is, by far, the most important element! That’s why I love GiftWorks: it gives you the tools to make the right choices about who you want to appeal to."
— Mal Warwick
In fact, despite the rapid rate of increase in raising money by email and on websites, only about 1 percent of the $300 billion raised annually is the result of online appeals. Under special circumstances (the disaster in Haiti, for example, or a presidential election campaign), people look to the Web to direct their dollars, but not for regular giving.
So, what makes for a great appeal?
“The list is, by far, the most important element! That’s why I love GiftWorks: it gives you the tools to make the right choices about who you want to appeal to,” said Warwick.
The creative—copy and graphics—has some impact. But it’s the content that carries your message, and the centerpiece of the content is the case for giving. A premium, or “free gift,” may boost initial response, but over the long term, new donors who respond to a front-end premium aren’t likely to become the loyal and generous donors you’re really seeking. Mal attributes this finding to the fact that the premium offer changes the nature of the act from a philanthropic one to a transactional one.
“Over the 30 years I’ve been working in direct mail, there have been many changes in the craft of putting together the package," Warwick said. "But ultimately, the essential parts are still an outer envelope, a letter, a response device, and a return envelope. In the webinar, we’ll cover my 'Eight Steps to Successful Fundraising Appeals' and my 'Do’s and Don’ts'.”
If you’d like to know more about Mal Warwick and access more of his fundraising expertise, check out his website—malwarwick.com—and sign up for his free monthly newsletter, "Successful Direct Mail, Telephone & Online Fundraising™."
