Direct Mail

Despite what many people think, simple repetition is one of the most powerful tools in your creative arsenal. The savviest fundraisers use it all the time to ratchet up emotion — and results — from their donors.

As FundRaising Success gears up for the ninth annual Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence, take a look back at last year's Campaign of the Year from Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).

As FundRaising Success gears up for the ninth annual Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence, take a look back last year's Grand Control of the Year from Union of Concerned Scientists.

Here are five direct-mail packages that have a history of success across a wide range of nonprofit organizations. Adapting them to your mission and message can help reduce the some of the risk that goes along with testing.

Recently, I said to someone that direct mail is a "melting iceberg." By that I mean that it's big, but continually shrinking due to people's habits changing. So instead of still building around direct-mail CRMs that can output postcards to different households, nonprofits need to focus on different inputs feeding a single CRM.

The person said to me that the term "melting iceberg" might offend nonprofits since so much of their income is still tied to direct mail.

At first I felt bad that it may have come across dismissive. But then I thought about Amazon.

I suspect a good part of the reason why fundraising and especially acquisition are so flat or down lies in the business-as-usual, risk-adverse nature prevalent in the contemporary nonprofit mentality. Nowhere is this affliction among both agencies and nonprofits alike more pronounced than when it comes to direct-mail testing. The bread and butter of conventional nonprofit testing methodology has long been the A/B split test. And while the logic is sound, it is incredibly inefficient and unproductive.

One year ago this month, I wrote an article that detailed what may be one of the boldest moves by a top brand in the nonprofit industry. Today's blog is your reminder of all that went into that decision by the American Cancer Society (ACS). Why am I reminding you? Because in two weeks, I will be providing you an update on where things stand and the progress ACS has made on its goals.

Many nonprofits view the thank-you letter as no more than a tax receipt. Smart nonprofits, however, recognize the donor acknowledgment letter as a critical component of the stewardship phase of the fundraising life cycle. A well-written letter not only expresses gratitude, but can serve as an opportunity to create an even greater affinity and appreciation for your organization’s mission. Here we address the components of a great donor thank-you letter.

Accurate, statistically valid testing is a rigorous process. It needs to be conducted by people who not only know how to do it, but who also know how to properly analyze the results.

Check out this video detailing the National Audubon Society's freemium mailing.