Direct Mail

Pamela Barden takes a look back at 2013's last week of fundraising, this time tackling the fundraising direct-mail appeals she received in the final week of the year.

I've been on the receiving end of a charity's efforts, and it hasn't ended well. In fact, a charity with which I have a great deal of affection has upset me. Not only has it written to me with a string of appalling direct mail (for which there is surely no excuse), but this must mean that there is no way it's raising the amounts it should be for its great work.

I will keep this all anonymous, and I tell this story only so others learn from how not to do it.

In fundraising direct mail, the letter is the thing. You have just a matter of seconds to grab the reader’s attention — or wind up in the trash bin. We scanned Who’s Mailing What!, the world’s largest library of direct-mail and e-mail samples, to share with you these top fundraising letters and the stories behind them.

Here are some trending behaviors and techniques I carefully observed and heard about throughout 2013 in regard to direct-mail fundraising. I came up with these two dozen hot and not-so-hot trends by scrutinizing award-winning direct-mail packages; having discussions with printers/writers/fundraisers; learning lots of best practices from conferences in the nonprofit and commercial industries; attending Direct Marketing Association of Washington lunch and learn presentations by direct-mail experts; meeting with my colleagues and our clients; and by looking at, touching and critiquing every piece of direct mail that crossed my desk

I don’t remember if my first impression was visual or tactile, but I do know I shoved aside that day’s mailbox loot to concentrate on the captivating pink baronial.

Two nonprofit organizations share how they secured the proper matches to run three extremely successful fundraising campaigns. Toronto-based Kids Help Phone secured a corporate partner to match gifts to its holiday campaign. And the Coast Guard Foundation struck matches with two campaigns — matching donors' desire to help during an emergency for a Coast Guard tragedy and incorporating a matching gift in its annual Memorial Day campaign.

Big-dollar donors don't need to be protected from your regular mailstream.

The technique for using concrete numbers effectively is not very concrete. It requires judgment, empathy, euphony, context and experience.

The sad fact is that the direct-mail highway is littered with packages that failed to live up to their initial test results.

The following are a few exceptional examples of how organizations have used proven formats like certificates, surveys and acknowledgments to enhance the donor experience and, in turn, drive up continued commitment.