The Fundraising Landscape, Circa 2005

Diversify your channels
Direct mail has been the workhorse of donor acquisition for many, many years, but other channels can work — and have worked — amazingly well, too. For starters, I’ve seen newspaper inserts and display advertisements work very well for local and national organizations.

Cable- and utility-invoice inserts also deliver a low-cost new donor. What’s more, the Internet and direct-response radio and television have emerged as important acquisition channels for some nonprofit groups.