Direct Mail

Last week, my wife received an email appeal that demonstrates that fundraising professionals continue to make stupid email and direct mail mistakes. I’m not talking about fundraisers who have failed to use cutting-edge techniques. Instead, I’m talking about folks who have made s-t-u-p-i-d mistakes when it comes to the fundamentals of making a simple appeal.…

After business hours on Wednesday night, a catalog association warned its members that USPS may get half of its exigency rate hike back. First Class postage dropped from 49 to 47 cents in April when USPS lost its 4.3 percent exigent surcharge imposed as a result of its losses during the Great Recession...

About a year ago, Maine Gov. Paul LePage threatened to withhold $500,000 in state funding from a nonprofit charter school if it didn't remove its president, Mark Eves—who also served as Maine's speaker of the House. His tactics worked that time, and he has continued to make controversial comments and play hardball with nonprofits in order to try to get his way...

Picture a year-end appeal. The goal isn’t met. Time is running out. Your appeal urges donors to act right away, or bad things may happen. "Can’t we keep it upbeat? You know, focus on the good stuff?" a board member will ask. "We know that’s more effective, right?" Well, I don’t think I do know…

I’ve reminded you all about the Pareto Principle, and written about Pareto2. It’s all well and good in theory. But how can it be applied in practice? One of the most obvious applications is when targeting and budgeting in direct mail. If I am working on a direct-mail pack to my house file (people who…

Good use of data can help you create messages for your donors that are more relevant, interesting—and effective. But data can betray you in embarrassing ways. Like it does in this letter from an organization I support. (I'm hiding its identity because I don't want it to be embarrassed in front of its peers.) Here's…

I’ve been stewing for a while about a certain kind of solicitation I’ve seen. I’ve hesitated to write about it, but I get more annoyed the more I think about the damage this thing can do. Want some examples? This is an email I got last December (good organization, bad solicitation). And this tactic made…

We all have preconceptions and beliefs that shape our daily decisions and actions. When it comes to marketing decisions, it is especially important to identify the origins of our information. Research can help to track down evidence to ensure our campaigns are based on facts, not misconceptions. The wisdom of this is highlighted in research…

So have all the cool kids moved to digital? Is mail so yesterday? Sometimes it seems like that’s what I’m hearing. And I often feel like a grandma, warning people not to move everything online. But grandma or not, I’ll keep doing it. I know the arguments: Yes, email is cheaper to send. Yes, online…

Yes, I know how much it costs to send out a newsletter. But I also know that done right, a newsletter is a moneymaker for your organization. It’s a win-win—more net income and more opportunities to build loyal donors. In other words, a newsletter is one of the remedies we can apply to dwindling donor-retention rates. Done well, a newsletter can be a dollop of glue to bind your donors to the organization...