A Blast From the Past: Weather Is Fine ... Wish You Would Give (March 2007)

FundRaising Success published its first issue in November 2003, which makes this our 10-year anniversary year. To celebrate, we'll be taking a look back at past issues throughout the year.

Nonprofit organizations face numerous challenges in today’s competitive environment, including limited operating budgets, particularly for marketing, and a flood of organizations vying for the public’s charitable dollars. Donors are extremely selective with their contributions and might only donate to one or two organizations annually that speak to their personal sentiments, interests and demographic.

Therefore, nonprofits can benefit from taking proactive measures to analyze the psychologies of their financial contributors and leverage this information to develop highly targeted marketing campaigns.

The motivations of these charitable adults can be related to many things, such as their personalities, sociodynamics, personal experiences and life stages. Consequently, nonprofits must utilize the proper fundraising techniques in order to communicate their key messages to these varied audiences.

It’s no secret that one of the most effective distribution methods for nonprofit organizations has been direct mail. According to the Direct Marketing Association, 53 percent of nonprofits use direct mail for fundraising, and that number is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years by 7.5 percent from 2005 to 2009 (Source: DMA Trends & Benchmarks in Business to Business Direct Marketing, 2006).

But not all direct mail is created equal. To get the most out of this proven fundraising medium, nonprofits must filter through numerous options to choose the most appropriate vehicle. Industry experts such as the DMA report that postcards have the highest read rate among all types of direct mail (Source: 2005 DMA Statistical Fact Book).

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