Here’s why donors won’t let you forget about freebies.

By Paul Barbagallo

Since November 2003, the Task Force direct mail program has generated about 5,000 subscriptions for The Advocate. “Not only did the mailing pay for itself, it actually brought in more revenue,” Robbins says. “It’s the best thing to happen to our program.”

A ‘miraculous’ response
For faith-based charities, however, the matter of pinpointing a relevant premium offer is a bit more taxing. Most lack the funding required to maintain a successful back-end premium program, and some have exhausted the popular religious-themed front-end offers of name-and-address labels, greeting cards and notepads.