What does "donor-focused" mean?
It means redirecting your communications with your donors and volunteers from an institutional perspective ("see what we've done") to the donor's perspective ("see what you've made possible"). It involves donors and volunteers directly by acknowledging their vital role in the success of your mission, while building lasting relationships with them. And, involved donors are giving donors.
What's the difference between ROI and Net Yield Per Thousand (NYPM)?
ROI (Return on Investment) is a way to measure the efficiency of your fundraising efforts. NYPM (Net Yield Per Thousand) enables you to accurately measure fundraising effectiveness. In fact, using ROI only can even prove misleading by indicating a better ratio, but failing to reflect the true net income raised, which can often be significantly higher. The NYPM metric also allows you to compare net income results across all direct mail appeals and any of your other fundraising programs. And because it is a true measure of effectiveness, the NYPM metric is a more accurate
indicator of stewardship.
Why do you need my donor file if I'm still only evaluating DSA as an agency?
Understanding your donor base is one of the most important keys to communicating and building lasting relationships with each and every donor on your file. In order for us to develop effective recommendations, strategies and tactics in our proposals to prospective clients, we need to conduct a file audit so that we can understand how your donors have responded historically, determine which donors provide the majority of your support, ascertain your lapse rate and, in short, gain as clear a picture of your donor file as possible.
But how will you protect the high level of confidentiality of my donor file?
We can conduct a thorough file audit without the names and addresses of your donors, which completely protects the confidentiality of your file. All we need are donor identification numbers and giving histories to garner the vital intelligence we need to begin to develop a strategic fundraising plan and proposal.
I'm trying to save money, so why can't my volunteers do my mailings?
In our experience, as wonderful as volunteers are for any organization, few are qualified to bring together all of the necessary elements that make up an effective mailing-compelling, well-crafted copy, powerful, attention-getting design, insightful mailing list segmentation analysis and selection, and last but not least, the ability to get the package in the mail and in your donors' hands at the exact moment they are most likely to give a gift. You may think you're saving money by using volunteers, but your savings will never surpass what you could be losing in donations if any one of these key ingredients is missing or poorly done.
What does a retainer relationship provide?
At DSA, we strive to form consulting partnerships with our clients, not merely vendor relationships. This is why we tend to decline working on a per-project basis only. As a result, strategic plans, analytical services, project management, major gift consulting, creative development and other fundraising efforts all require an intimate knowledge of your organization or ministry. Therefore, on-site meetings, travel expenses, conference calls, ongoing telephone conversations and other related activities are all included in your retainer. A retainer relationship with DSA essentially gives you complete access to the knowledge, talents and skills
of the entire agency.
If I hire DSA, will my net income increase immediately?
It's possible. In fact, many organizations and ministries do experience this. The first year you are served by DSA, we will be vigilantly analyzing the results versus projections of our direct mail fundraising efforts. In fact, our experience has shown that our performance improves with each year we serve
an organization or ministry.
How do I know I can trust DSA?
You'll find honesty is part of our Core Values, as is integrity, respect, and an attitude of service in all our dealings with our clients and each other. We keep our promises-we say what we'll do and do what we say. But you don't have to just take our word for it. You can talk to our clients yourself. If you'd like to do so,
please contact Michael Johnson.