The 10 Commandments for Optimizing Fundraising Success, Part 1

If you have a great offer, though, don't hide it from either segment. Everyone loves a great offer, Gaffny said. Put it right on the outer envelope or in the subject line. Gaffny provided some good examples of organizations sharing their great offers right on the outer or in the subject line:

• Paralyzed Veterans of America: "CD ENCLOSED, HANDLE WITH CARE" "Your Fourth of July Favorites are Enclosed!" "Look Inside for Your FREE Patriotic Notepad Our gift to you! … Bonus gifts matching set of magnets and pencil enclosed!" "Join the Heroes Circle and get a Tote Bag"
• Food for the Poor: "Your Free 2009/2010 Wall Calendar Is Enclosed" "Multiply your gift 88x" "Every dollar you give delivers $62.50 worth of lifesaving aid" "Your donation of just $5 can feed 100 hungry children"
• Save the Children: "Exciting Matching Grant Opportunity: Multiply the Power of your donation to help children in need!" "Extraordinary opportunity to see your donation quadrupled!"
• Smile Train: "Make one gift now and we'll never ask for another donation again!"
• Operation Smile: "See how a 45-minute surgery can change a child's life forever." Uses an involvement device of lifting an image of a child with a cleft palate to see what she looks like after the surgery. And on the back of the same package is another great offer — "Your gift has 13X the power to ship medicines and supplies — and change young lives FOREVER."

Of course, you could always just freak everyone out with your package as well, Gaffny said, with unconventional things like mailing a plastic bottle with "HELP!" written on it or using a "WARNING" label.