Personalization works, Mr. Sample. Just be sure to get it right, Mr. Sample. And please, Mr. Sample, don’t overdo it.

By Paul Barbagallo

Fundraising professionals should ask themselves: What do we know about our direct mail donors, and how can we use that information to initiate a more meaningful conversation?

Know your donors
On an information-saturated playing field where donors receive myriad offers and solicitations, personalization in-creasingly becomes a necessary strategy. For Bill Rehm, vice president of Mal Warwick & Asso-ciates and a fundraising veteran of more than 20 years, personalization is about making tactful and creative use of the data.