The Pentera Blog
Marketing in Uncertain Times: Should You Cut Your Budget?
by Claudine A. Donikian, JD, MBA, Vice President, Integrated Marketing
I know it's really hard right now because some planned giving departments have had their budgets cut. So I think it's important to answer this question on a theoretical level, as well as on a practical level. The theoretical or "best practice" answer might sound a bit counterintuitive, and maybe even ludicrous: it is a marketing best practice to keep up all marketing and advertising efforts and spending during economic tough times. It's even recommended to increase your marketing budget.
For example, a retail store that increases its ad spend might not see an increase in immediate sales, but will build up its awareness and possibly become top-of-mind for when the economy recovers. At that point, consumers will be more likely to choose that well-marketed store over it for shopping after the recession recovers, and the store should see a substantial increase in sales. On the flip side, as an article in the February 2009 Harvard Business Review points out: "Companies that injudiciously slash marketing spending often find that they later must spend far more than they saved in order to recover."
This might be great to know, and you might agree 100 percent, but you might also not have any control over the fact that your budget has been cut. So what do you do in this case? The practical answer is to keep in touch with donors, by adding eMarketing to your mix as long as you have good and live e-mails. Consider saving on postage by doing fewer but more meaningful mailings. Of course continuing to visit your top prospects is essential.
However, research indicates that over solicitation is one of the top reasons donors stop giving to a charity, so using mission-based pieces that serve to cultivate and steward donors while educating them about gift-plan options is an important component of your marketing. This educational approach is often referred to as a "permission marketing" strategy, where the marketer educates the audience over time with value-added information in order to build a relationship. Skipping this step will ultimately have negative consequences.
