Today's Tip: Ask with Ask Ladders

Published
I recently read an article that pointed out some simple but extremely important things to keep in mind when determining what to ask a donor. The one that particularly struck me was doing your research, looking at what people have given in the past. It got me thinking about Altru and ways we leverage past giving to help guide future asks. Happy to report that we help you predict what that ask should be through ask ladders. The concept is simple, use an individual or organization’s past gift as a baseline for the next ask and suggest a progression of giving so you don’t leave potential donor dollars on the table.

For example, if a donor’s last gift was $25, in the mailing you can suggest they give $30, $35, $40, $45, or $50, but if a donor’s last gift was $200, suggest $250, $300, $350, $400, or $500.  The suggested amounts are personalized in each donor’s letter based on what you know (the data stored in Altru) about the recipient’s giving history.

So with some setup, you’ll be able to leverage this moving forward for future mailings.

1. Setup smart fields – this calculates the baseline gift amount that you decide (last, largest, smallest, average).

If you don’t already have this smart field setup, you can add a new one by going to Administration, clicking Smart Fields, and then click Add.  In the Marketing section, select Constituent Ask Ladder and click OK.  Read more about adding Smart Fields.  Save the Smart Field when complete.

2. Setup the actual ask ladder – this is the actual progression of dollars you’d ask.

To create the Ask Ladder, go to Marketing and Communications, Configuration, Ask Ladders, and click Add.  Give the smart field a name, and in the Entry amount field select the smart field we created.  In the Amount Over column, enter starting amounts, such as $1, $50, and $100.  In the Type column, select how you would like to formulate the specific ask amounts (Add, Fixed, or Multiple).  In the Ask # columns, decide what amount should be added to the donor’s last gift amount.  After this grid is filled out, go to the Preview tab and view what your ask amounts will look like.  If you need to edit any amounts, go back to the Ask Ladder tab.  When the Ask Ladder appears correctly, click Save.  If you’d like more information on adding an Ask Ladder, see our user guide.

3. Insert the ask ladder merge fields into your letter – this makes sure each constituent gets an individualized ladder.

Now the fun begins.  To do this from the HTML Content Editor in your Appeal Mailing, select your Ask Ladder in the drop-down menu (1).  Next, to insert the Ask Ladder merge fields, click the Merge Fields drop-down arrow and select More fields (2).  The Fields and Criteria window opens, select the Ask Ladder fields ‘Ask1’ to Ask5’ and then click Save.  You can now insert these fields on the letter from the Merge Fields drop-down menu.



 

Your next mailing will now accurately prompt your supporters to give an appropriate amount based on their previous giving history.  Smart, very smart.

Do you use Ask Ladders to help your organization make the right ask in your mailing?  If so, leave a comment and let us know what works best for you.  Do you prefer basing your ask progressions on the largest amount, smallest, latest, or average?  Are there other things you consider when making an ask?  Let us know.

If you want to discuss the Ask Ladders feature, please join the conversation we have going in the Community or take our mini-webinar on Ask Ladders, scheduled for June 27 at 2 p.m. ET. Only 30 minutes to get you up and running with ask ladders - add it to your calendar!
News ARCHIVED | Blackbaud Altru® Tips and Tricks 06/19/2013 10:38am EDT

Leave a Comment

Check back soon!

Share: