A growing number of charities across the USA are taking a nickel-and-dime approach to encourage donations by mail, despite some evidence that including coins in solicitations turns off potential donors.
The change comes while charities scramble to fight a recession-fueled drop in donations. In June, the GivingUSA Foundation reported a $11.3 billion drop in charitable giving for the past year.
As the nonprofit community determines just how much they might see postal rates increase next year, it's clear that Standard Mail Parcels will get hit with the largest increases – 23 percent – under an exigent rate case filed by the United States Postal Service (USPS) today.
How much the nonprofit rate for Standard Parcel or other categories used by nonprofits will increase is unclear, but USPS appears to be moving toward having categories cover more of their costs to handle.
I've read recent industry editorials that indicate direct mail is "breathing its last breath." Most of the buzz is focused on social media, online marketing and mobile marketing. But fundraising direct mail is very much alive and well!
During their presentation, “30 Ideas in 60 Minutes: Your Hour of Creative Power," at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Fund Raising Day in New York held last Friday, Jeff Brooks, creative director at TrueSense Marketing; Moira Kavanagh Crosby, president of MKDM; and Dennis Lonergan, president of Eidolon Communications, provided direct-response and online fundraising strategies to make your fundraising solicitations stand out from the crowd. Here, Crosby outlines her 10 strategies from the session.
During the first-ever FundRaising Success Virtual Conference & Expo held on May 20 (and available on-demand until Aug. 24), FS columnist and creative director at TrueSense Marketing Jeff Brooks provided 25 good ideas and even one bad one for fundraisers. Here is a rundown of his ideas from his session, “Feel the Power!”
The details vary, but every now and then you'll get a message from a donor that goes something like this:
Aliens from the Quador Galaxy are taking over America and trying to socialize my Medicare. Unless you take a public stand against the aliens, I will never send you another donation, and I'll tell all my many friends not to give either!
These days, people are bombarded with messaging from every angle, and with their precious little free time, it's easier for donors to hit the delete button or toss their mail in the recycling. To reach donors, you have to break through the noise with relevant, attention-getting communications. And you must have a way to measure their impact as well.
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Board of Directors today announced the election of G. Steven Dapper , chairman and founder of hawkeye, as chairman of the board. Don McKenzie , CEO of Direct Group, was elected vice chairman of the board. The terms of office commenced at DMA’s board meeting today in Washington, D.C.
With their mailstream competitors continuing to struggle, fundraisers have moved from a major player to a dominant one in the past year. Analyzing the 10,000 or so pieces of direct mail pieces we get in our Who's Mailing What! Archive each year reveals some clear trends, in particular comparing the calendar year of 2009 to previous years.
While financial, publishing and catalog mail have dramatically shrunk their volume in the mailstream since the economy started tanking nearly two years ago, fundraisers have kept up their mailing frequency. In fact, fundraising mail actually rose in 2008 and 2009 as compared to 2007. And since 2007, fundraisers grew from a respectable 13 percent of the mailstream to 20 percent in 2009. That means a full one-fifth of the mailstream is fundraising mail. Wow. It's reflected in my mailbox. Yours?
Pardon me as I steal from Mail Enterprises' ever-gracious Scott Swedenburg today. As usual, his quarterly Direct Fundraising Tips e-letter brought a smile to my face, so I thought I would share some of it with you. Here, Scott offers tips on how to help donors get excited about writing that check.
