Two Common Direct-mail Production Issues

Another dilemma is whether to put a live stamp on the reply envelope. Hitchcock says probably the most effective way to influence response rate is to put a live stamp on a reply envelope, but when you do that you're talking about a 39 cent investment per mail piece. "In general, when you're mailing donors who give $25 or less, for most of them, it's very, very difficult to raise net revenue if you're mailing that out at First Class. Unless they're very, very responsive $25 donors. Conversely, if you're mailing donors who have given $100 or more, it's almost always worth investing in First Class postage and also investing in putting a live stamp on a reply envelope."