🐰 Finding Your Peeps! 🐥

I used to think that there were only two kinds of people in this world…people who loved Peeps and people who hated Peeps. But then I had a revelation. And this revelation is extremely important this week because Easter is over, so that means Peeps are on mega-sale right now.

I’m not a Peep fan. The idea of eating any kind of marshmallow as a sweet treat is just not where I’ve ever wanted to waste my calories...until I discovered Peep S’mores! Hear me out!

Yes, I get that it does sound a bit twisted to stab those cute little chicks and bunnies and roast them over an open fire, but just trust me. There’s something about that crunchy sugar coating on the outside that adds just a little extra something to the whole s’more experience. And, wow am I here for it! I always get a mile long receipt at CVS this time of year as I take advantage of the super sweet Peep sale. Pop ‘em in some Ziplock bags and we have s’more accoutrements to last the whole summer. We’ve done this since my kids were small, but my nieces and the neighborhood kids love it just as much. Almost any summer night you can find us sitting by the firepit ready to serve up some Peeps to our favorite peeps.

And, believe it or not, when it comes to nonprofit marketing, you need to know when and how to serve your peeps, too. And this time of year is just as good as any to practice some marketing methods and moxie that can help you work smarter, not harder.

Left Brain Marketing Methods: Realizing that you can’t communicate with everyone without watering down your message so much that it doesn’t resonate with anyone is an important milestone in your marketing career. Once you’re there, you need to determine who your peeps are. Put your focus, your energy, your resources, and your stamps to work for the people who always show up. Those are the 5% that have an affinity for what you do and the mission you invest your days furthering. Those are the 5% that have the capacity to help you do something to improve the quality of life for those you serve. Let’s decide who your peeps really are.

Right Brain Marketing Moxie:  The power of threes is not lost on a s’more—graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. Take that and use it to your advantage. You, your donors, and your community. Time, talent, and treasure. Asset development, grantmaking, and community leadership. Remarkable things come in threes! You can take this metaphor and combine it with some right brain marketing moxie! It's a terrific recipe!

Let’s do this, my peeps! 

Left Brain Marketing Methods: Fundraising is hard. You have many more people in your database than your resources will allow you to manage. Sure, mail houses exist and bulk mail at the post office is a real thing. But you can spot a mass mailing from a mile away—and so can your donors. You’re better than that. And when you know better, you do better. You know who those donor segments are who have A/C—an Affinity for what you do and the Capacity to act on it—focus your efforts on them. I adore how Seth Godin talks about concentrating on the top 5% of your peeps ‘Because when their persistent, consistent, and generous action begins to add up, change happens. And that brings the lurkers along. It might even activate them.’ That's a beautiful concept. You do what you can to dedicate your resources to the persistent, consistent, and generous and you let those people activate the lurkers. Brilliant. Those are your Peeps!

So, how do you identify your 5%? Well, your database is your friend here. Pull reports, scour through them. Look for patterns and make decisions about the best message each donor needs to receive. Some donor segments are obvious: current board members, past board members, top donors, and professional advisors. Others are harder to peg. So, here are some left brain marketing methods that might help you in a nice left brain chart for all my fellow data nerds out there.

You get the idea! Take the data from your database and find out who your best donor segments are that will be most likely to act on the asks you have for them—those are your peeps!

Right Brain Marketing Moxie:  Your left brain marketing methods are crucial but if your donors don’t open your mail, it was all for naught. So, you better believe we’ve taken advantage of blessing our peeps with s’more mail! We’ve recycled this idea in a couple of unusual ways depending on the donor segment. And while Fall may seem like a fun time to make s’mores, summer is the beginning of camping season. Heck, our family enjoys campfires all throughout the summer. So, whether you use Peeps or regular marshmallows, let this idea inspire one of your upcoming direct mail pieces. And take note of our use of threes, it's not just for s'mores anymore!

Since this specific mailing went to a small segment of 50 donors, we were able to make it a bit more special with the packaging and it turned out even better than we expected! We know we can customize 50 of anything, in-house, with ease. This is a picture of the final product that one of our donors sent to us after the unboxing, with some the contents of the box listed on the right, just FYI!

When you know who your peeps are, why you are sending them something, and with clarity about your ask, that's when you get your best results. And, it's also when those three ingredients of your mission, your donors, and their actions add up to the perfect concoction--just like S'more Peeps!

You've got to use both sides of your brain, my friend! Just use one side at a time. Try it out and let me know about your successes!

All the best to my peeps far and wide,

Dawn

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dawn brown creative llc.