Top Ten Takeaways from the 2013 Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference

Spending three full days with nonprofit leaders talking about marketing and fundraising was inspirational. Throughout the conference, the overarching message was how multi-channel marketing campaigns should integrate across all channels, and that we can no longer ignore our mobile audience. While I l have so much I’d like to share, I wanted to share a top ten list of great takeaways from the Bridge Conference in DC in July 2013.

1. With marketing— be strategic, then be tactical (worth remembering always!).
2. Define measurable campaign goals (you have to start somewhere, and at first, this is often just a guess).
3. Create a multi-channel calendar of tasks. All campaigns should have a start and end date.
4. Start to plan your annual giving campaigns in August.
5. Average donation amounts tend to be higher with online giving (vs. direct mail). Women and boomers give the highest donations.
6. Individual donation amounts tend to be higher when “matched”.
7. Mobile has the highest open rate, so be sure to design your emails so that they are readable and thumb-friendly on a phone.
8. Give your list a “snooze” option when a member moves to unsubscribe to your page.
9. Thoughtfully reflect on how your nonprofit brand is experienced. Joseph Pine shared a great example of how a nonprofit created an experience.
10. Do the work, keep the faith, Be true blue. From the terrific keynote by Cheryl Strayed.