Life in Lane One (Will Surely Make You Lose Your Mind)

With apologies to The Eagles, I’m going to address how a tactical approach in the guise of “strategy” can hold fundraising programs back.

Jason Lewis of Responsive Fundraising uses a Three-Lane model to illustrate how organizations, “strategically deploy resources, and how revenue and program growth are most affected when the focus is on the second and third lanes.”

For various reasons, public media stations have traditionally focused on Lane One, which is prospective donors.  Remember that a giver is still a prospect until a second gift is made, which turns that person into a donor. 

Lane One activities include hours spent crafting new and clever letters, having them printed, bringing in volunteers to stuff envelopes, and getting them to the mail house.  While university print shops or local mail houses relieve staff of some of the task-based activities, Jason advises organizations to turn the blinker on and get out of Lane One entirely.  That involves outsourcing mail to a competent vendor.

CDP has taken core competencies of direct mail and email marketing and married that with enormous scale. When you combine competence with cost savings, the outcome is something that managers dream about. In our world, we call it higher NET revenue. For-profits, of course, simply call it, “profit.”

How will you invest the profit?  

That’s where Jason’s Three-Lane approach comes in. You invest in Lanes Two and Three, which, as illustrated in this graphic, is a strategic investment in deepening donor relationships. 

What you gain is the ability to use the time, talent and resources in-house to become better fundraisers and less focused on being technicians carrying out tasks. 

Those who are thirsting for fundraising-as-human-connection will then be freed to spend time:

-        Listening to donors

-        Crafting a timely and compelling case

-        Creating customized appeals that will combine the case with the donor’s passion and deepen the donor’s commitment to the organization

CDP manages direct response programs for a number of public media stations (mail, email & texting).  For 40 other stations that are Member Service Bureau partners, we manage marketing and operations, taking on a larger slice of backroom work to help stations organize fundraising departments in a way they’d only dreamed was possible.

On a recent podcast, Jason said that “ten years from now, most full-time fundraisers on the payroll will look like what we understand to be today as major gifts officers.”

At this point, if your fundraising team is still in Lane One, for their professional development and for your station’s own development, the smart money is on outsourcing. We’re not shy about saying that CDP Direct has public media as its sole focus, with scale that often saves stations 20-30% in direct costs. 
Contact us for a free assessment and projections.