It’s important to get your envelope opened, but spending too much money on it can be self-defeating. Finding a balance requires testing ideas, new and old.

By Abny Santicola

The gifts that closed-face mailings reel in also can be higher. One of Kinch’s clients mails a closed-face carrier in acquisition that says only, “See what we can do,” on the outer.

“It struggles to get 1 percent, but it’s getting a $42 average gift. [It’s] bringing in donors for $8, $9, that are worth $400 in the first two years,” Kinch says. Lester says she’s seen closed-face outers work well with mid- to high-dollar donors.