on your way to effective marketing and fundraising Reflecting On A Decade A message from top dogs Mike and Connie Monk

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1 EMBARK on your way to effective marketing and fundraising Summer 2015 Reflecting On A Decade A message from top dogs Mike and Connie Monk

2 REFLECTING ON A DECADE with Mike & Connie Monk A very special thank you to all our clients, employees and vendors, Alpha Dog Marketing celebrated our 10th Anniversary on June 1, 2015! A decade ago, the company was started with seven employees in a small office space inside the Gallup Building in East Lincoln. Since that time, we have moved twice and now have thirty nine employees. Connie and I have been blessed to form many great relationships and had a countless number of positive experiences during those ten years. We respect the two industries we have elected to focus on Food Banks and Animal Care. Both are able to create deep connections with the communities they serve and employ generous and caring staff. We have been fortunate to work with such compassionate people and feel blessed to continue serving our partners as they serve their communities. Looking forward to the next 10 years at Alpha Dog Marketing, we will continue to invest heavily in our people and technology to ensure that we continue to provide our clients with the best service and products possible to assist them in growing their customer relationships. Best Regards, Mike & Connie Monk Celebrating 10 Years

3 THINK BIG. THINK HOLIDAY. THINK DIVERSIFIED CHANNELS. It s summer and the Holiday season is on your brain. Or at least it should be. Summertime is when you need to prepare for the fourth quarter. Do you have a Google Grant? You still have time to apply for one. Here are the Google Grant specifics:» Your ad budget is $329 per day or about $10,000/month.» Maximum cost per click (CPC) is $2.00.» You may only run keyword-targeted campaigns.» Ads will only appear on Google and not the rest of the advertising network.» Ads can only contain text - no pictures or videos.» Actively engage with your Grant AdWords account and adjust keywords regularly.» You cannot participate in revenue-generating ads. Are you diversifying your agency marketing channels? Now is the time to plan an integrated campaign. The world is a multichannel marketplace where your donors and supporters are able to explore a wide variety of products before making a final decision. This makes it absolutely critical to connect with consumers as many times as possible in order to influence a positive result. In a recent report, the DMA found the following response rates Think about the channels your organization is currently using and how you can expand that for the upcoming holiday season. Make sure you have strategically planned your mail, telemarketing, online presence and messaging, media and how you will integrate your holiday theme. Integrating your message through new channels will bring bigger and better results. Talk with Alpha Dog Marketing about how you should integrate your channels for 4th quarter. Plan now - avoid stress later. 83% of respondents reported using in marketing campaigns 44% reported using 3+ media, most likely , direct mail, and social media 83% report using in marketing campaigns 35% of respondents claimed using a singly type of media for their campaigns - mostly 64% plan to use social media in the next year 65% of organizations use 2+ media types in their marketing campaigns Source: The Direct Marketing Association s 2015 Response Rate Report

4 DONOR DATABASE CLEANUP Self-Assessment Worksheet: When was the last time you did a phone append and an e-append on your donors? Are you currently planning on an e-acquisition strategy for the holiday months? Is your donor database clean and ready for the largest giving season of the year? Are you certain that you have access to other departments data? (in terms of clients and client services, including volunteers) Cleaning up your donor database file can seem like a daunting chore especially when the weather is so nice! Having a bad data file is wasting your organization s time, money, and precious resources. Think of the direct mail pieces you have sent out that turn no response because your data file was dirty and outdated. Now, think of the fresh donor information you could have had for those campaigns and the possible opportunities that a clean file could have given you! Here is a simple checklist to get you started down the path towards a clean and organized donor database: Combine Your Dupes. Dupes are your duplicate records that make their way into your database possibly through name changes or someone signing up on your website multiple times with different accounts. Time to Update. Next, verify that the records you have are correct and addresses are the perfect place to begin updating your file. According to the US Census, on average more than 15% of Americans, or about 35 million people, move annually. Start with Your Biggest Donors. This will ensure that those who give the most support to your organization have are correctly listed so that they can continue their support.

5 Eliminate. There is no reason to keep donors in your file who are not interested in your organization. The length of time to keep ep these contacts varies depending on the size and type of your organization. However, it is generally good to remove unresponsive constituents after five years or more. Schedule Your Next Cleaning. The best way to keep your database clean is to regularly upkeep files and donor information. Set aside time on a regular basis to clean your file and we promise it will get easier each time! Create Best Practices. Form instructions on how and when to do database cleaning to prevent staff changes from making your file messy again. By documenting each step of the process, you will be able to fill in the holes and prevent future mistakes. ] Dun & Bradstreet reports that data deteriorates at an average rate of 2% per month, meaning you can expect 25-30% of your organization s database to go bad each year under normal circumstances. ] Yes, cleaning up your database file can be tedious. Do not hesitate to talk to your account manager about data cleanup and how you can get prepared for the holiday season! *Sources: and WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENT Date: Wednesday, July 15th, 2015 Time: 10:00-11:00 am CST Topic: Alpha Dog Marketing will be hosting a FREE live webinar on the importance of having clean data and how to prepare your database file for the fourth quarter. Register: Go to alphadogmktg.com/education and click on the Register Now button to sign up. You won t want to miss this valuable FREE webinar!

6 COME VISIT US Feeding America Mobilizing the Public Conference August 4-6, 2015 in Chicago, IL SAWA Annual Conference November Petersburg, FL NEW IN THE PACK Alpha Dog Marketing is pleased to welcome Jeff Beckenbach, Graphic Designer, and Hailey Behlen, Graphic Designer to the team! CONNECT WITH US! Tune into the Alpha Dog Marketing YouTube Channel for cutting edge fundraising strategies and recorded webinars. Coming Soon! CONTACT LINCOLN 8001 S. 13th Street Lincoln, NE HENDERSON 4 Moss Spring Court Henderson, NV VALENCIA CHARLOTTE DALLAS MANALAPAN WEB alphadogmktg.com info@alphadogmktg.com BLOG blog.alphadogmktg.com TWITTER follow FACEBOOK like us Alpha Dog Marketing LINKEDIN connect with Alpha Dog Marketing PINTEREST follow at Alpha Dog Marketing