By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
Q1. What is list trading?
A. List trading, or swapping, is the practice of exchanging mailing lists with another charity. They mail a fundraising letter to your list and you mail a fundraising letter to their list.
Q2. When do charities tend to trade lists?
A. List trading is used exclusively for donor acquisition. Charity A mails Charity B’s donors with a view to acquiring as many of those donors as possible, and vice versa.
Q3. Who “owns” the acquired donors?
A. Charities who swap lists do so with the clear understanding that any donors who respond to an acquisition mailing become donors of that charity as well.
Q4. How much does it cost?
A. List trading is free. No money changes hands.
Q5. How does the list trade take place?
A. Charities use a third party, such as a lettershop or list broker, to exchange the lists. That way, each charity can mail the other’s list only once. These third parties also de-dupe the lists so that you do not mail any donors on the other charity’s list that already support your cause.
Q6. How many names can I trade with another charity?
A. List trades are reciprocal. So however many names you want from the other charity, they will want an equal number of names from you.
Q7. Which names do I trade?
A. You will work with the other charity to decide the criteria to use when pulling your lists. The names you each select will invariably be donors who have made a gift within the past 12 months. You can further narrow your lists based on any other criteria that helps both charities.
Q8. Who do I ask to trade lists with my charity?
A. Pick charities whose donors are similar to yours but whose causes are different. Donors are unlikely to support two charities that do identical work.
Q9. What are the benefits of swapping mailing lists?
A. There are any benefits:
1. You save money on list rental fees
2. Your net income from a traded list can be twice that of a rented list
3. You stand to acquire twice as many donors as a rented list
4. Your cost of acquisition (cost per donor) is around half that of renting lists
5. The percentage of acquired donors who go on to make a second gift is higher than for donors acquired from a rented list
6. Your response rates will be higher
Q10. If I let another charity mail my donors, won’t they stop giving to me, or give less?
A Not likely. Your donors already support multiple charities and receive lots of mail from them. One more piece of mail won’t make a difference. Even if the other charity’s mailing is highly successful, 90% of your donors won’t respond. Plus, few donors give all that they can. Chances are that if they like the other charity’s mission, they will support both of you, not one or the other. And remember this vital thing: list trading is reciprocal. While the other charity is mailing your donors, you are also mailing theirs.
Q11. When should I not swap my list?
A. You should not trade your list if your privacy policy forbids the practice.
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