Meet the Broker: Steve LeBlanc

Today we meet Steve LeBlanc, president of Diamond List Marketing Co., a one-man shop located in Annandale, VA.

After leaving the military, LeBlanc started his new career in the list business at Best Lists and Freedom Lists in 1993. He joined Diamond in 1996.

"I was hired as director of list services and I brought in a number of clients," he says. "And then the principals told me that I could run the company myself."

LeBlanc splits his time about 50/50 between brokering and managing lists for organizations with conservative political agendas.

"I'm very much involved in the political world," he adds. "My clients are really on the Republican conservative side."

Working for nonprofit clients through agencies in the Washington, DC area, LeBlanc makes list recommendations for direct mail fundraising campaigns.

"Ninety percent of my brokerage business comes from agencies," he adds. "I broker 6- to 8 million names annually."

Organizations he finds lists for include Gun Owners of America, In God We Trust-America Inc., English First, U.S. Veterans Hospice Foundation, The Seniors Coalition, U.S. Border Control and U.S. Border Security.

He did some list brokerage for past presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, but he's not doing list work for any of the current field of G.O.P. presidential candidates.

His main interests are politics inside and outside of work, spectator sports and his two sons ages, 6 and 17. His favorite teams are the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox and he likes to attend their games. But bigger thrills loom on his horizon.

"I'm going to be jumping out of an airplane soon with my oldest son. I've learned to be careful as a parent about what I say, because I promised him a long time ago that I'd jump out of an airplane with him on his 18th birthday," says LeBlanc.

Is there much difference between brokering lists for small versus large political organizations?

"I find that smaller organizations have tighter budgets and higher expectations. Large organizations have larger suppression files—because they've used many lists—and they have lower expectations," says LeBlanc.

Organizations usually experience net losses when using lists for prospecting, typically 2- to 20 cents per piece, which is more than offset when a newly acquired donor makes subsequent contributions, he adds.

What's happening with the supply of lists and response rates for targeting political conservatives?

"It's starting to increase again," LeBlanc says.

The number of conservative organizations renting files is up, he notes. Also on the rise are hotline counts and response rates for targeting political conservatives, which have been growing since Democrats gained control of Congress. This follows years of steady declines for conservative lists, which began with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Much of the growth in the supply and demand for lists associated with conservatives is coming from newly formed organizations and increases in prospecting activity by established groups.

While Republicans controlled Congress list prospecting response rates for many clients dropped as low as 1.2- to 1.3%, significantly below the 2% benchmark normally sought for political fundraising, according to LeBlanc.

"Now I'm seeing certain clients hit 2% and some organizations are generating prospecting response rates over 6%," he says.

Presidential elections always give a huge boost to the political list market. Since politicians receive matching funds for every fundraising dollar raised this effectively reduces prospecting costs, which in turn creates more demand for list services. "It's good for brokers," says LeBlanc.

Know someone you'd like to suggest for Meet the Broker? E-mail Jim.Emerson@Penton.com