“You Want It Out When?” A Survival Guide to Project Planning. In the Trenches 3/05

By Tom Hurley

President Kennedy gave NASA a decade to get to the moon.  My kids give Santa a year to come through for them.   I wonder if the rocket scientists and St. Nick have the same “under the gun” feeling that many direct mail fundraisers do when preparing for the next big campaign?

Both experienced and newbie fundraisers know that successful campaigns require an investment of both financial resources and time.  We’ve dealt with the financial issues in previous columns.  Now let’s deal with time, the one resource that we all have the same amount to spend. 

I asked a bunch of my fundraising industry colleagues at other agencies and at client organizations for their opinions.  I know how long the process takes for our agency, but I wanted a reality check.  I wanted to know how long it really takes most direct marketers to go from concept to the mail.  Most of all I wanted to know how these folks use their time wisely, and what trips up even the best in the business.

The consensus among more than a dozen of my peers is that it takes at least eight weeks from concept to the mail to avoid overtime charges and mistakes due to haste.  That said, emergency appeals can be launched in hours if you are prepared and capital campaigns can span years.  Large mail quantities of one million or more, and starting a new agency/client relationship, can also add more time.  While eight weeks was the median response, everybody agrees that every campaign is unique.

Most of my sources mentioned two major phases that come into play with most any mailing project.  There’s the “concept to disk phase” in which the campaign is designed and written, and the “disk to mail” phase which puts the campaign into production and into the mail stream.  Again, most agree that you must devote about four weeks to the strategic and creative phase (concept to disk), and about four weeks for production (disk to mail). 

Managing the Process

There are many variables that can wreak havoc on even the most well thought out strategies. 

When working with prospect-generation campaigns, for instance, you will have to manage the aspects of bringing in outside lists.  John Graham, Vice President of Ministry Advancement of In Touch Ministries of Atlanta, GA, says, “The list decisions and execution should happen at the beginning of each campaign.  First, because it takes time to clear the list orders and exchanges, and second, because it’s important to make sure the campaign is within budget guidelines.  Knowing the list universe is vitally important to both cost control and revenue forecasts.”

So much for the perfect world.  Everyone agrees that time-wasting habits can lead to higher costs, poor morale, and missed mail dates. 

Geoff Peters, President of Creative Direct Response in Crofton, MD, says the consequences of poor time management can have huge implications.  Peters observes, “If you are planning ten or eleven house mailings per year and the client misses deadlines for approving copy on any kind of a regular basis, it’s not uncommon for one of the mailings to push back the next.  If this happens two or three times per year, you find yourself doing one fewer mailings that year.  That can be 10 percent of planned revenue lost due to missed deadlines.”

So I asked my panel of experts how fundraisers can best use their two months to consistently turn out great campaigns.  (The same rules apply whether the non-profit manager is working with an outside agency or not.)

From Concept to Disk

Jack Doyle, President of Amergent, in Peabody, MA, says, “I've found the greatest opportunity for agency and client partners to cut time and expense starts with the creative development process.  Before the first meeting, all parties involved are asked to look for things to ‘bring to the table’ around a new idea or strategic concept.  Preparing to actively contribute something at the meeting is key.  No one is allowed to come unprepared.”

Jack keeps his people on task.  “Once we have agreement on everything that we want the donor/prospect to do, we go through the supporting story content and photographs brought for consideration.  Prompt attention to details before, during, and after the initial creative development meeting can really save a lot of time.”

Ken Burnett, international author and lecturer, agrees.  Ken says that is critical to prepare a brief in advance of every campaign and get everyone to sign off on it before work starts.  “Clients who constantly change the brief should face some sort of penalty, like being charged time and a half, at least.”  Ken adds, “Constantly changing the brief is demotivating and leads to very second-rate work.” 

From Disk to Mail

Four weeks later, with data and art disks in hand, it’s time to print and produce the direct mail campaign.  Gina Kneib, Senior Vice President of Production at DMW Worldwide in Wayne, PA, offered several tips for
in-house and agency production managers:

• Avoid corrections at the proof stage.  It is better to take time for a complete review of the components, with all appropriate parties, prior to disk release.  Proof review should then be limited to as few people as possible.  Having too many people involved with proof approval can slow down the process.  Additionally, changes made at proof stage are costly both in time and money. 
   
• If appropriate, have proofs sent to multiple contacts simultaneously for approval, but always have proofs returned to a single point of contact to compile corrections before sending back to the printer.  This helps avoid confusion, which can add time to the process.
  
  
• Send a previously printed sample to the printer for color match, even if you plan to attend the press check.  By giving the printer something to target up front you avoid, potentially, hours of adjustments on press.
  
  
• If a previously printed sample does not exist, request an ink draw down on the specified paper stock, to avoid surprises and wasting time while on press. 
  
  
• When jet printing envelopes, get the envelope blanks manufactured as soon as the window position is determined, while waiting for the artwork to be released.  
  
  
• When working with data, make sure there are data audits at intervals during the processing.  If there is a problem, it can often be resolved simply, quickly, and with fewer people involved.  If a problem is not discovered until the signoff stage, it can result in significant delays while the problem is researched and the processing is redone. 

Tom Hurley is president of the not-for-profit division of DMW Worldwide. DMW Worldwide is a full-service direct response-advertising agency with offices in Wayne, PA, St. Louis, MO, and Plymouth, MA. You can reach Tom at 774-773-1200 or via e-mail at thurley@dmwdirect.com. Visit DMW on the Web at www.dmwdirect.com.