America’s Second Harvest’s new direct-marketing approach yields ‘remarkable results’ and proves that donors are hungry for more intimate relationships with nonprofits.

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

“We were able to drive our cost per response down by $5 ($43 versus $48), which was great, “ he says.

Terri Shoemaker, manager of direct marketing at A2H, explains that the new approach began with breaking some old habits.

“We built our [direct marketing] program from the ground up starting in the mid-1980s and had the same direct marketing consultants for more than 10 years,” she says. “And while that relationship provided us with a great file and a very cost-effective program, we found ourselves bogged down with our own historical approaches to things.