Apr 29, 2010

I spoke at yesterday’s Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association Luncheon.

Posted by Wendy Weber

Yesterday I participated in a panel discussion, along with Jo Sullivan, Senior Director of Integrated Marketing at CDR Fundraising Group, and Tricia Reyes, Associate Director of Fundraising at Consumers Union. The discussion took place at NYC’s Yale Club, with approximately 70 people in attendance.

The topic was How to Be More Effective in Your Fundraising Job.

I was asked to address what skills employers seek from direct marketing fundriaisng professionals, whether there is a targeted mix of on and offline marketing efforts, and what employers are looking for when hiring direct marketing fundraisers. Here are some highlights from the presentation:

– Both traditional and emerging media are important parts of the marketing mix. Older donors continue to respond well to direct mail, while younger donors are joining Facebook fan pages for causes they embrace, and reading blogs and surfing YouTube.

-Social media creates relationships, as opposed to traditional media, which is more transaction oriented. As Wendy has learned from her clients, getting new prospects to fan pages is critical to beginning the relationship which creates a donation. As she said in the presentation, “First you date, then you marry.”

-What are employers looking for? Many nonprofits feel it is beneficial to have experience in the for-profit arena. Also, the most valuable candidates understand how all the channels – planned giving, major gifts, direct mail, drtv, telemarketing, and social media – are bolted together. They understand the cause and effect behind the performance of a marketing program, which is getting more and more difficult in a multichannel world.

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