Direct Mail

Recipients (clearly unenlightened!) call it "junk mail." Some nonprofit leaders claim it's dead and we should just play taps and get on with it. Others figure it's worth using as long as we can keep it "dirt cheap."

Industry experts such as the DMA report that postcards have the highest read rate among all types of direct mail.

The outer envelope is the wrapper for your all-important ask. It’s the first thing recipients see, feel and interact with.

It’s fall! That means lots of nonprofits are ramping up their fundraising efforts and asking for donations. It can be a bit intimidating, and it’s easy to get confused about the best path to fundraising success in the mail. Here are three things you can do to get the most out of your fall direct-mail appeal and raise more money for your mission: 1. Evaluate past fundraising direct-mail performance. 2. Plan for fundraising success. 3. Tell a story.

FundRaising Success announces the 2013 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence Direct Mail (Less Than $10 Million) winners: City Harvest and Good Counsel.

FundRaising Success announces the 2013 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence Campaign of the Year winner: Ronald McDonald House Charities.

FundRaising Success announces the winner of the 2013 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence Grand Control of the Year: Union of Concerned Scientists.

FundRaising Success announces the 2013 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence Direct Mail Campaign of the Year ($10 Million and Up) winner: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Communications and development can, and should be, the soup and sandwich of fundraising.

Ah, I could talk about direct mail forever ... but I'll stop here! All this old dog asks is that all you skeptics out there take a few minutes to consider (or re-consider) direct mail — an old-fashioned fundraising tool that can breathe new life into your year-end fundraising.