Direct Mail

The message I heard after year-end 2010 was clear: One-off appeals (whether letters or e-mails) don't work well anymore. These days, the organizations with the most direct-response moxie are the ones that craft engaging 
campaigns with many touchpoints. Multipronged campaigns not only raise money — they build deeper relationships that pay off 
over time.

This envelope came from a local hospital with whom my husband had a two-night stand earlier in the year. It was metered with nonprofit postage, and the return address was the hospital name and "Office of Philanthropy." Since we had never donated to it, what could shout "donor acquisition" more loudly? It couldn't have been more simple, but the good copy worked.

While a larger postal rate case remains on appeal, postal rates increased by an average 1.7 percent effective this past Sunday — the first increase in two years.

An average 5.6-percent rate hike, proposed by the United States Postal Service (USPS) last summer but rejected by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) the past fall, remains on appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

There’s a lingering misconception that direct mail and the Web are fundamentally at odds. It’s more accurate to say that they complement and influence each other, and can enhance campaign effectiveness when considered as part of a whole. Consider designing your direct mail with the following in mind:

One of the most lucrative methods of fundraising that nonprofits can turn to in these circumstances is printing items such as donor-recognition pieces, calendars, booklets, posters and greeting cards. With minimal investment, these items can generate thousands in fundraising revenue, with the added benefit of active community involvement and lasting good will. But they have to be done right. As in many fields, pro-active nonprofits are at the forefront of innovative fundraising and awareness.

When the Southeast Texas Food Bank was incorporated in 1991, it did no fundraising whatsoever, it had two donor names (the executive director and a board member) and its budget was around $700,000. Today, it has 25,000 donor names in its database and an operating budget of $1.9 million.

Two seemingly disparate developments spur this writing. One is the fiscal disaster that is the United States Postal Service and the other is the unprecedented attack on the deductibility of charitable donations. I see these as related and stemming from the same problem.

When the Southeast Texas Food Bank was incorporated in 1991, it did no fundraising whatsoever, it had two donor names (the executive director and a board member) and its budget was around $700,000. Today, it has 25,000 donor names in its database and an operating budget of $1.9 million.

The most common complaint donors make about fundraising? Too much mail! Right? Do those too-much-mail complaints stab you in the heart because you're afraid they might be correct? Well, they are correct. It's not possible for them to be wrong: If a donor perceives too much mail, she's getting too much mail. It's something we need to deal with.

Today, every fundraiser understands that direct mail can't do it all. Any campaign needs the other channels, to some extent ... and ideally on the same page. And while the closely coordinated direct-mail and e-mail campaigns are both popular and successful today, perhaps the most effective demonstration of the offline-online marriage is a personalized URL (PURL) campaign.