[CSL board] direct mail

Fri Oct 5 22:11:45 EDT 2007

Habitat had a tremendously successful hit rate when sending out 
prospecting solicitations -- about 3% of new-to-Habitat people who 
received a letter asking for money sent a check. The industry average is 
about half that.

It's possible that an article in Linux Journal followed by a direct mail 
piece may be more successful. We can't make a decision to go ahead with 
a mailing until we know the total cost of the solicitation.

Josh Harding wrote:
> I've responded inline below. All statements are IMHO, may not apply in all
> states, and subject to changes and exclusions if I change my mind.
>
> On 10/5/07, Dan MacNeil <dan at thecsl.org> wrote:
>   
>> Thanks to everyone for their quick and honest responses.
>>
>> We're certainly not guilty of group-think.
>>
>>     
>>> Has CSL done other direct mailings for funding before;
>>> what were results?
>>>       
>> CSL has done zero direct mail.
>>
>> For a year, I was the junior guy in a 6 person IT group that supported
>> the (at the time) 5 million dollar per year effort for http://habitat.org
>>
>> When I was on the board @ the Lowell habitat we made $20,000 with direct
>> mail to existing supporters.
>>
>> I'd not thought of doing direct mail before because I'd not thought of
>> an appropriate audience.
>>     
>
>
> The most important part 'existing supporters'. My impression was that our
> letters would not go to existing supporters, or people who had solicited
> information about us. I don't think that would be very effective. (Please
> correct me if my impression is incorrect)
>
>
>   
>> In addition to what Josh stated,
>>
>> To be clear, I mean paper/postal/snail mail.
>>
>> I'd like a little more detail than "Too traditional".
>>     
>
>
> That statement was not well thought out. I apologize and retract it.
>
>
> This feels a bit like the discussion we had on going after federal
>   
>> "faith based" money a while back.
>>
>> Existing budget is 90% grants or contract fees for work I've done and
>> not been paid for. My current salary is about $12K/year, roughly 1/3 of
>> the budget. I last got paid in June. I don't expect to be paid again
>> until February (if all goes well)
>>
>> see sheet 2 in:
>>
>>         http://thecsl.org/sys/finance.d/budget-fy-2006-2007.xls
>>
>> If we hit the Parker grant, this will change, but so far this year we've
>> made $3,000 in grants.
>>
>> We don't have many solid grant prospects right now. Even if we did, I'm
>> selfishly interested in diversifying income. I'm ok with building a
>> donor base over time. I'm ok with killing trees.
>>
>> Writing an article for linux journal is a good idea, but it isn't clear
>> to me how this will bring in money. I've never read a linux journal
>> article and thought "I should give that guy money" I can see an increase
>> in volunteers, a corresponding increase in workload to manage and sift
>> them and (eventually) more productivity.
>>     
>
>
> It seems like we're dealing with two issues here; increasing our audience
> and asking for/receiving donations. To increase our audience, sending
> letters could be effective. I don't think we should ask for money in a
> directed way (email, snail mail, telephone call) from someone unless they've
> expressed an interest in what we do.
>
> I would propose that we attack increasing our audience and getting donation
> separately (for the most part). Linux Journal subscribers are a great group
> to try to increase awareness of our existence in, but I wouldn't feel
> comfortable asking for money except from folks who got back to us indicating
> an interest in our work.
>
> The thought process I envision would be for someone to read about us, be
> interested enough to visit our web site, and in the course of a perusing the
> web site, see a page asking for a donation. The specifics would be Eric's
> job, but something akin to the popular micro-loan concept might work well.
> We could have a button to donate a dollar right on the front page, and
> another to donate a custom amount. That dollar donation would be a great
> indicator of who might give us more money in the future.
>
> -Josh
>
> ###########
>   
>> Karen Zgoda wrote:
>>     
>>> In addition to what Josh stated, I'm concerned about how this fits
>>> into our strategic planning.  Has CSL done other direct mailings for
>>> funding before; what were results?  Direct mailings of previous
>>> donors tends to work well.
>>>
>>> I'm thinking we would get a more positive financial result if we
>>> wrote an article to publish in the Linux Journal describing how CSL
>>> is using Linux in community-based NPOs.  Folks could be easily
>>> compelled to donate after hearing about the work we are trying to
>>> accomplish.
>>>
>>> ...Karen
>>>
>>> Karen Zgoda, MSW, LCSW
>>> Doctoral Student
>>> Boston College
>>>
>>> karen at karenzgoda.org
>>> http://www.karenzgoda.org
>>>
>>>
>>> On Oct 3, 2007, at 6:22 PM, Josh Harding wrote:
>>>
>>>       
>>>> I would personally be very unlikely to respond positively to such a
>>>> letter
>>>> (and my name would be on the list ;) ). Is there some less
>>>> conventional way
>>>> we can reach out to an audience of people who might be intrigued by
>>>> us?
>>>>
>>>> I've stuffed envelopes for many different NPO's over the years - mass
>>>> mailing is certainly a well established tradition, but there are
>>>> few things
>>>> traditional about the CSL.
>>>>
>>>> What's Eric's opinion on the idea?
>>>>
>>>> Maybe I'm just touchy from working right next to the sales
>>>> department in my
>>>> current job...
>>>>
>>>> -Josh
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> That's my initial reaction, although I may not understand all the
>>>> factors...
>>>>
>>>> On 10/3/07, Dan MacNeil <dan at thecsl.org> wrote:
>>>>         
>>>>> I have it in mind to rent the Linux Journal subscriber list and
>>>>> sent a
>>>>> letter asking for money (actually several test letters and one
>>>>> final one)
>>>>>
>>>>> If this works, the effort can be repeated with apache week, PC
>>>>> World, etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> Possible upsides:
>>>>>
>>>>>         1) not having to deal with grantors micro-management
>>>>>         2) cash
>>>>>
>>>>> Downsides:
>>>>>         1) need to build infrastructure to handle many small
>>>>> donations
>>>>>
>>>>>         2) distractions from grants
>>>>>
>>>>>         3) will probably consume most of the remainder of Eric's
>>>>>            first VISTA term.
>>>>>
>>>>> Obviously this will depend on a bunch of facts we've not yet
>>>>> gathered,
>>>>> for example the cost of renting the snailmail subscriber list.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm curious as to people's quick gut reactions on direct mail vs
>>>>> grant
>>>>> writing?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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