WE WOULDN’T BE SERVING YOU WELL IF WE DIDN’T TELL YOU . . .

Douglas Shaw
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD/CEO

Here at Douglas Shaw & Associates, we believe we owe you the truth about direct response fundraising as we know it. Hopefully, those we have the privilege of serving as client-partners can vouch for us on this point. 

In our consulting, we often say, “We wouldn’t be serving you well if we didn’t tell you . . .” This introductory phrase often precedes news, information, or a recommendation that we suspect our client does not particularly want to hear. 

So, it’s with this introductory phrase that I write today to tell you three things about donor acquisition that you may not want to hear: 

1. Donor Acquisition is NOT optional: Every nonprofit organization or ministry MUST acquire new donors every year to replace the donors who have lapsed in their giving to you. Failure to allocate budget to donor acquisition is tantamount to saying, “We’ll worry about funding the next three years of our organization AFTER we start seeing our donor file and income slide off the cliff.” 

2. Direct mail donor acquisition is an essential part of your annual acquisition effort: Remember, donor acquisition is now a “team sport” requiring the use of every communication channel available to us to optimize the results of our efforts. Despite reports to the contrary, direct mail is NOT DEAD; rather, it enhances digital efforts to acquire new donors. 

3. Digital donor acquisition is an essential part of your donor acquisition mix, but it is NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR OTHER CHANNELS, e.g., direct mail: Many of the organizations we serve have embraced the value of digital donor acquisition. It’s important to strike a healthy balance between print and digital acquisition (perhaps 70% print or direct mail and 30% digital). 

I hope my candor on donor acquisition helps you as you prepare for your all-important fall fundraising campaigns. 

Thanks for being a part of what is right with the world! 

If you like what you see in us, just give us a call at (630) 562-1321. You can also contact us here or by email.