Two Common Direct-mail Production Issues

Hitchcock adds that another way to control costs is to mail larger. "The larger the mailing, the lower the per-unit cost. So large-quantity mailings are the place to put lower-dollar donors and donors who haven't given as recently to the organization," he says.

In order to keep testing costs to a minimum, Hitchcock says, organizations should always test things that will make a difference and avoid tests of things like different color combinations. The most influential test is the gift amount, he advises. It's also usually the least expensive test from a production standpoint, he says, because you can alter the reply device and keep the other package components the same.