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

“I think when you take your stack of mail from the mailbox, a No. 11 [or] No. 12 puts your corner card up above everybody’s No. 10, and so it sticks out a little bit,” Kinch says, adding that one format she’s never seen work in a cold mailing, acquisition environment is a 6-inch-by-9-inch mailer, most likely because it’s too easily lost in the fray.

Options exist in terms of color and texture as well. Many printers offer “faux-textured” envelopes that look and feel more substantial, like linen, but are reasonably priced. Kinch says the texture of the paper speaks to donors, but its importance often is overlooked by mailers.