Retention is Key DRM Component

As a result, Portland West's individual donor base increased by 300 percent, with a retention rate of 95 percent over three years.

Stavarz hailed a direct-mail campaign done by the Humane Society of the United States that used handwriting on the letter, carrier envelope and BRE. Handwritten efforts, while expensive, are hard for recipients to resist, he said, and can result in response rates two to three times greater than mailings without, along with 25 percent and higher increases in average gifts.