Fundraising and Marketing expert, Larry May, gave a great presentation at this year's DMFA Year End Luncheon.  He predicted the future and offered it to us in a powerpoint slideshow!  Actually, he made a disclaimer that he can't predict the future. But, he did provide us with a something to think about as we plan for the upcoming new year and gave us some practical advice that everyone in the field should commit to memory.

"Direct Marketing is doing 100 little things right, over and over again." -Don Kuhn

How does this forecast to what will happen in the future?  It's doesn't.  But it does support Larry's theory that the past 30 years are more the same than different for direct marketing. 

What Larry is referring to is the fact that best practices and fundamentals have not changed and that success or failure is all about the margins.  The little 100 things you do right add up (or down).  We face marginal challenges all the time that make fundraising more difficult.  Are only hope is that we can make marginal improvements to grow and succeed.

Bad economic news + tough political battle + hysterical media = Scared old people.  Not all old people, but enough to hurt response rates.  These are some of the marginal challenges we're facing going into 2012.  Others challenges include: According to the US Census Bureau, Baby Boomers getting older and not having as much to give as previous generation. And according to Opinion Research Corp., 36% of women 65+ are giving to fewer charities. What this means is that a few people could stop giving, or give to fewer charities, or give a little less, and what this means to you is that you'll miss your budget.

To make matters worse, costs to fundraise are going up, charity watchdogs have outdated or misguided ratings, and donors continue to resist digital media and credit card giving. For now, we're stuck with direct mail, so focus on the basics...

A few cool ideas:

• Coupons on response forms lift response rates and average gift
• Build models with applied data to improve acquisition and go deeper into lapsed data
• Re-mail the acquisition package to new donors to lift 2nd gift conversion rates

Larry's valuable advice:

• You are not the donor
  • Your donor is more traditional, more religious, and less techy than you - more like mom and dad. Your responses and instincts may be completely wrong.
• You can't sell your cause
  • Focus on the aspects of your cause that match the donor's experience and world views by fitting yourself into their pre-conceived notions
• Two great ways to fail
  • Be conservative until things get better
  • Wait for the next big thing

The future is unknown. But if you carry out to Larry's advice, maybe your colleagues will think you can predict the future with your many marginal successes in years to come.

To see more cool ideas and valuable advice, click over to see Larry's full presentation.

Have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!