Superstar fundraising tip — maximize offline acquisition.

How do you acquire new donors?  Do you send direct mail acquisition?  Radio or TV? Print ads? Church relations activities?

If a person gets our mailing or sees our ad, I think we generally assume they are going to decide whether or not to respond then and there.  But that’s not true. We just saw that 40 percent of donors go online to check out the organization before donating.

So I’ve got a tip:

The next time you do an acquisition strategy (direct mail, radio, tv, print, etc.), recognize that people will seek you out online, and take advantage of new media to “seal the deal.” Repeat that same style of print ad on your home page (for visual recognition).  Place a photo of the direct mail piece that clicks through to more reasons why you are addressing your issue and why they need to support you today.  Embed a copy of the TV spot that you put on YouTube (it’s easy!), and create a compelling landing page on your site around it.  All that leads to a donation.