I got a call last week from a friend of mine whom I had not heard from since the Clinton administration.

“Hey Jim, did you see that video of you on You Tube?”

A video of me.  On You Tube.

I did not put it there, I did not ask to have it put there, nor did I give anyone permission to put it there.

Never the less, it was there.

Information, they say, is power.  A long time ago, before the sun rose over the internet horizon, organizations controlled their own information.  They controlled how it was presented, to whom it was presented, and when the presentation would take place.

That day is long passed. 

All it takes is one individual with a wifi connection and a laptop and data, regardless of the format, can be blown into the public domain for universal consumption.

The control of institutional data is now beyond the control of the institution.

The dark side of this phenomenon was seen during the sexual abuse crisis of the past decade.  Like mushrooms, websites cropped up all over the electronic landscape with the details of each scandal, including the picture of the offender, the court documents, and the statement of victims.  Stories of perhaps local significance were blown out onto the national stage.

This certainly did not help diocesan development directors in their fund raising efforts.

Yet, there is bright side to this growing process of informational decentralization.

There is information, organizational information, that our donors and those considering making a donation, find important.

Why not take, for example, the Diocesan financials that is most often published behind the legal announcements in the diocesan newspaper, and let them go viral for projection into the electronic cosmos.  Perhaps a video could even be developed with the diocesan CFO explaining the year end position of the diocese, demonstrating good stewardship of finances.

Imagine that.

You may not be able to control the flow of information, but you can give it a nudge once in a while.

The IPhone 4 is here.

I am very excited.

I love to watch the rapid progression of the technological evolutionary chart and how we, the adoring public, scamper to ride the rising swell of bits and bytes.

In November of 2009, Duke University commissioned a white paper to explore the evolution of technology and the impact of that change on the social sector.  In Disrupting Technology, the authors devote their attention to a lengthy consideration of the relationship between the philanthropic enterprise and the rapid evolution of technology.

I promise, they do not mention “online giving” once.

Their study really considers our relationship with information and how that relationship has been shaped by emerging technologies.  Simply stated, thanks to the world wide web, information is now ubiquitous.  Documents, videos, photos, and all manner of media, now reside on an infinite number of routinely accessed websites.  And because the information is out there, we expect it, or, we expect to see it, very quickly.  When we enter a search term in Google, we expect that the electronic gods will deposit the information at our feet, neatly wrapped, ready for our review.     Easy access to omnipresent data:  we expect it, we demand it, we need it.

So do potential donors.  If the rise of entities like Guidestar teach us anything, it has taught us that the internet has also become a vast shopping mall where current and potential donors seek out information on the charitable causes that they are seeking to support.

Consider, for a moment, the electronic footprint of your annual fund.  Last week, I chose 30 dioceses at random and visited their annual fund websites.  The vast majority of them had two things in common:  a static .pdf of their annual fund brochure and a copy of their annual fund video.

I did not break my arm reaching for my checkbook.

What design elements should be incorporated into your annual fund brochure so as to encourage maximum campaign participation? A white paper produced by David Broudy and Frank Romano delineating best direct mail practices provides several useful recommendations:

Personalization:   There is a direct relationship between personalization and response:  the more personalization that can be built within a direct mail solicitation program, there is a greater probability of a favorable response on the part of the recipient.   Diocesan development directors, therefore, should abandon the use of ‘self mailing’ brochures that include generic, embedded solicitation letters.  If a letter is to be included in the annual fund brochure mailing, it should be a distinct piece with the appropriate salutation.  Additionally, variable print technologies now allow for personalization within the context of the actual brochure.  Although costly, this innovation allows for a depth of personalization that  could significantly enhance donor response rates.

Color and Imagery:  Direct mail pieces that are designed in full color have a significantly higher response rate that those pieces that are designed in either two or four color.  Additionally, it has been my experience, and that of many enrollment management professionals in higher education, that the strategic and selective use of imagery can have a powerful effect upon the reader.  Diocesan development directors should carefully consider what images they will use within the context of their direct mail campaign, limit their number in application, and make sure they are large enough to be seen.

Font Size:  Direct mail pieces have to be read to be understood.  Using a font size smaller than twelve point is, well, pointless.  If length of message determines font size, diocesan development directors should consider their appeal messaging and how it can be reduced.

In addition to these design elements, Broudy and Romano indicate that successful direct mail programs closely utilize database information in their design and implementation.

How are you utilizing what you know about your donors to shape what you are saying to your donors?

How do the design elements, common to many diocesan annual fund brochures, discourage the charitable behaviors that they seek to encourage?  Let’s consider those elements again as related to their potential impact upon the reader:

A lot of information.  Diocesan annual programs are, by their very nature, far ranging in scope.  Many annual appeal brochures contain descriptions of every funded ministry and the percentage of appeal dollars that will be or have been assigned to each program.

If you try to drink from an open fire hydrant, you may get wet, but you will remain thirsty.  Does the core message – the call to action – the request for support – get lost in a vast sea of information that the donor finds irrelevant?

Small typeface.  In order to contain all of the information within a limited span of media, written typeface ranges between 8 – 10 points. 

Research indicates that those in the post war generation, ages 60 to 65, are the most robust supporters of diocesan annual appeals.  Market research also indicates that this age group is one of the largest consumers of corrective eye wear.  Does your core message need to be read to have an impact?

Many small pictures.  Again, size limitations necessitate the use of small images.  Additionally, the liberal use of these images  is common in order to “place a face” on the many programs supported by the annual appeal.

One picture is worth a thousand words.  A thousand, small pictures, confuses the donor.  Do your images or iconography inspire campaign support?

Embedded and non personalized letter.  Many of the diocesan appeal brochures contain an embedded (contained within the brochure), non-personalized letter from the diocesan bishop seeking support for the campaign.

Dale Carnegie, the acclaimed toastmaster, once noted Remember my name and you add to my feeling of importance.  Does “Dear Friend in Christ” inspire support?

Self mail format.  Many, but not a majority of diocesan annual appeal brochure are designed to be self mailers (i.e. the recipient’s  address is placed on the outside of the brochure and it is posted without an envelope. 

According to the United States Postal Service, the average American receives 600 pieces of junk mail a year.  Does your brochure resemble those other pieces of mail that go directly into the circular file?

How should an annual fund brochure be designed?

A fair question that I will answer in the next post.

There are certain truisms in nature.

Swallows will always return to Capistrano.

Monarch butterflies will always winter in Angangueo, Mexico.

Diocesan development directors will always expend significant time, labor and often angst, in creating a new brochure for each annual appeal.

For many diocesan development offices, the brochure embodies the heart and soul of the annual campaign.  Contained within its glossy pages are the text and images that, hopefully, will inspire current donors to increase the contributions and lapsed donors to renew their commitment.  

I spend a lot of time reviewing diocesan annual appeal brochures.  By last count, I had one hundred and fourteen brochures of differing sizes seeking support for Diocesan ministries from every region of the United States.  Although there are many points of differentiation, there are also many common design elements that are present in almost every example:

1. A lot of information.  Diocesan annual programs are, by their very nature, far ranging in scope.  Many annual appeal brochures contain descriptions of every funded ministry and the percentage of appeal dollars that will be or have been assigned to each program.
2. Small typeface.  In order to contain all of the information within a limited span of media, written typeface ranges between 8 – 10 points.
3. Many small pictures.  Again, size limitations necessitate the use of small images.  Additionally, the liberal use of these images  is common in order to “place a face” on the many programs supported by the annual appeal.
4. Embedded and non personalized letter.  Many of the diocesan appeal brochures contain an embedded (contained within the brochure), non-personalized letter from the diocesan bishop seeking support for the campaign.
5. Self mail format.  Many, but not a majority of diocesan annual appeal brochure are designed to be self mailers (i.e. the recipient’s  address is placed on the outside of the brochure and it is posted without an envelope.

I believe, sincerely, that these design elements discourage the philanthropic behaviors that diocesan development directors are seeking to encourage.

I will let you know the how and why tomorrow.

See you at the next post.