The List Party

Whether you are starting at 0 or 1000 every once in a while it's smart to make a really strong effort to add to your mailing list. Donors lose interest, people move away, or sadly die. You have to add new names once in a while just to maintain the status quo and sometimes you really need a shot in the arm in order to grow.

One of the best ways to find some potentially new supporters is with a list party.

Invite 10 or 15 people who love your organization to get together to brainstorm new additions to your mailing list. Make sure they know the purpose of the meeting right from the start so that they are prepared and willing to help.

Time the meeting well in advance of a mailing so the pressure is off and you can focus on doing a good job rather than a fast job.

Ask your guests to bring other lists with them. This is key to your success but it is also a very fine ethical line. If these people are Board Members or staff of other non-profit organizations they should not bring lists from those organizations. It is a definite conflict of interest and just shouldn't be done. But if these people belong to social or athletic clubs, have children in private or neighborhood schools, participate in neighborhood associations or belong to local churches many of these places have lists of members and these lists are great ways to identify new people who may be interested in learning more about and/or supporting your organization. Our town is so small we often work right out of the phone book!

Have copies of your current mailing list available so people won't waste time on duplications.

Ask your list-building volunteers to each come up with 10 or more people who may share their interest in your work. Ask them to think about potential new volunteers, event attendees, speakers, part-time staff members and consultants as well as potential donors.

How you actually capture the addresses (and e-mails) is up to you. You can photocopy the lists, highlight the "good" new names and enter them into your database later on. You can ask the volunteers to write you a list and again enter the names later on. If you are really efficient, you can have a volunteer entering new contacts immediately during the event.

No database? Make starting one a priority. It will take time to enter everyone the first time around and even more time to learn to use the darn thing but the first time you print labels instead of hand addressing envelopes you'll never look back.

It's smart to be selective but only to a point. If you think it's worth the cost of a stamp (or better yet a bulk mail fee) then take a chance on a new name and see what happens. You may be surprised and you can always delete them later if you get no response after several mailings.

Speaking of deleting use the list party to clean up your list as well. It's hard to keep track of moves, deaths, divorces, etc. but in a small pond you've got a petty good chance of finding out what's going on in your community especially when you have a dozen willing volunteers ready to share the latest updates with you.

Finally, serve snacks. Snacks always help.