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 Tell-a-friend! | Girl Scouts Using Video For New Cookie Messaging
Girl Scouts have gone door-to-door, peddling their cookies to faithful buyers nationwide for the past 93 years. However, there is more to these treats than the 2 a.m. freezer raid for those Thin Mints.
Through a new online video campaign, “Every Cookie Has a Mission,” Girl Scouts of the USA, based in New York City, is reminding buyers of the message behind the cookies that have become such a staple in American culture. Ashlene Nand, brand manager for Girl Scouts said demand for cookies often outweighs the supply. Cookie sales generate more than $700 million each year.
The fundraiser is unique, Nand said, because it is a financial literacy program for girls, which is why the cookies are not sold in stores. The public often forgets the reason behind the program, which prompted the Girl Scouts to launch a national awareness campaign in 2008. The video campaign is an extension of it.
“We wanted to shift the message,” she said. “There is a reason you are buying. You’re not just investing in great cookies, you’re helping girls in communities,” she said.
The video had more than 20,000 hits during its first two weeks, Nand said. Councils across the country have also helped spread the word of cookie season through postings on Facebook and Twitter. In the video, the cookie mission is explained through identifying each goal with a specific cookie. On girlscoutcookies.org, interested buyers can be set up with a council from where they can make purchases. While the charity would not release the campaign’s cost, Nand said it was very low cost compared to other viral marketing programs.
Girl Scouts Media Manager Michelle Tompkins, said it was important to get the fundraiser up and running online, because many of the girl scouts are engaged in social media.
“We need to be where our girls are,” she said. “Many people are online, and now we are operating at the speed of our girls.”
Advertising for the fundraiser differs from year-to-year, said Chris Moore, an independent creative director from Greenwich, Conn., who helped to create the video campaign. Going online was a way for the charity to take advantage of a wide broadcasting net without the much expense.
“They wanted to re-awaken (people to) what the cookies actually meant,” Moore said. “Digital media spreads the word more quickly, and is a way for the Girl Scouts to be more current and take part in the conversation.”
The video was inspired by Moore’s ad copy, “The Cookie That Could.”
“The cookies have become separated from the girls a bit,” Moore said. “Nobody thinks twice about buying cookies and what they mean, besides eating Thin Mints. Every cookie does really have a mission, and it’s about what each girl can do for her community, and when she becomes a woman, for the world at large.”
Moving to an online campaign format was a risk for the organization, which typically uses more traditional outreach methods, Nand said. However, the low cost of going online was added incentive.
“Going digital allows us to create a tool and put it out there, and travel beyond what traditional media can offer us,” she said. “We don’t have big (advertising) budgets at all, and we don’t have a lot of resources. Viral is kind of working for us.”
Andre Basso, video director and producer who is based in New York City, said the campaign was an opportunity to show people just what the cookies do. The campaign took between three and four weeks to get running, he said.
“They are trying to educate people on how powerful the cookies program is,” Basso said. “Girl Scouts is such an iconic brand, and they haven’t tapped into the full potential of viral marketing yet.”
Including their audience in the media campaign has been beneficial to Girl Scouts, Moore said, due to the poor economy and limited advertising budgets. “Nonprofits can’t afford to buy people’s attention,” he said. “The answer is to find a way to self-propagate in social media. The audience becomes a part of your media plan, and their relationship with you is tighter because they have participated in your campaign. Ordinary people and consumers have more power to shape your public impression than all the art directors and copywriters in the world.”
Online advertising campaigns also have staying power online, Moore said. “That video is going to be running around on YouTube and available forever,” he said. “Marketing communications are a very transitory investment, but they can have eternal life online. We don’t necessarily associate staying power with digital media, but in a funny way, it kind of works.” |
| • | Tips Section:
DRTV …
57 channels and nothin' on
Direct mail or email. Direct response television or YouTube. Twitter or Facebook. The number of channels to reach donors is growing, but it’s still all about clear communication, according to Geoff Peters, president and CEO of CDR Fundraising Group in Bowie, Md.
Peters talked about multi-channel fundraising, from snail mail to PURLs (personalized URLs), during the National Catholic Development Conference at Arlington, Va.
The sheer volume of channels available might scare off some people, but using these channels strategically could end up helping your organization’s communication efforts, according to Peters.
Here are his thoughts:
• It’s about the math. Integrating communications across multiple channels should work positively, increasing your donor numbers. You aren’t subtracting anything – so you only have room to gain.
• One size does not fit all. People respond differently to various channels. The person who may answer your email campaign might never respond to your Facebook account or your direct mail.
• Small organizations have an advantage online. Social networks and email campaigns can be implemented with little or no cost. But these channels still require time, especially social networks that need time dedicated to building relationships.
* Direct mail is not dead. People have bemoaned the death of direct mail since the Internet took off. Peters reminded that people said the same thing about the fax machine taking over for direct mail – and look how that turned out. The average nonprofit makes 5 percent of their revenue online, which has increased substantially in the last 10 years but still doesn’t beat the donation juggernaut of direct mail at most organizations.
* Have one hand help the other. If you are looking to grow your email list, look no further than your direct mail house file. These names represent people who love your organization. Try an email append to get their email and build another relationship online.
• Integrate across channels. Keep your branding consistent with all channels so you don’t confuse the donor. If you send out a direct mail piece about puppy mills, don’t make dog fighting the prominent theme in your telemarketing follow-ups or email. Stick with one issue at a time and see if you can segment donors by their responses.
• Each organization is different. Ask yourself what is the return on investment for anything that you do and make sure it works for the organization. Test everything so you know exactly how the communication integration works. |
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| | Donors…
3 ideas for enhancing the online giving experience
Creating an effortless online experience can enhance your donor’s overall experience with your organization, according to Bridget L. Brandt, senior marketing manager at Sage Software in Austin, Texas.
During a session at the recent Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Conference and Exhibition in San Diego, Calif., Brandt explained that you need more information to really see how people interact with you
Analyzing your Web site is just one crucial part of the communications experience your donor may encounter. But are those online experiences good or bad?
Here are some tips:
• What do you do? A majority of organizations don’t have a description of their goals and objectives on their Web site. If you want people to give, it might help for them to know what you plan to do.
• Where are the donations? Only a small percentage of Web sites share how the donations will be allocated. Your donors should know how programs are funded. Make the information available to everyone. Try to equate the donation amount to your mission -- for example, how many people you fed or how many acres of land were conserved.
• Make it easy to donate. Your Web site shouldn’t be a maze and the donation page shouldn’t be hidden from view. Construct your site so your donation page is one click away from any page. You never know when someone will feel compelled to give.
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| | Planned Giving …
7 reasons to target younger donors
It is quite understandable to equate planned giving with wills and thus with older people. Speaking during the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ international conference, Larry Stelter of The Stelter Company said such thinking might not be such a good idea any more.
Stelter shared information that had been gained in studies conducted in 2008 and 2009 about planned giving. Some of Stelter’s findings:
• The strongest identifying trait among those who are good prospects without wills is age. Many nonprofits ignore people under 55 when targeting bequest donors, but that is not a good idea.
• Once a nonprofit is in a will, it is almost never removed, meaning there is more risk in waiting too long than in cultivating givers at too young an age. In fact, older givers are more resistant to the idea of bequests.
• Bequest donors look at themselves as investors in your mission, and they want to know what is their ROI. Be sure to include evidence of good stewardship.
• It is a good idea to offer response options in direct mail besides returning reply cards.
• Give them less technical copy and more that is donor-focused, life stage-oriented, with passion for mission emphasized.
• Prepare messaging for specific age groups. One format sent to one generic group featuring one generic message (Spray and Pray) does not work any more.
• Remember that education is important.
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