Finding Your Direct-Mail Donors — Online

The results of the pilot were compelling — at least at first blush. Stations raised almost $400,000 more on an advertising spend of $64,000 for a ROI of more than 6 to 1! The return was based on a 19 percent increase in number of gifts. We note that we are not fully satisfied with the control for this test. Due in part to sample size limitations, the control population was set up as those with a cookie that did not receive ad impressions, while the test population consisted of those with a cookie that successfully received ad impressions. Fortunately, the control population was verified to match the test population on key demographics. (Hint: an opportunity for you to ensure a purer test vs. control population when you try direct-response, cookie-based targeting.)