Direct Mail

November 6, 2009, The Independent — The threat of a Christmas postal strike was lifted last night following hours of talks between Royal Mail and the unions.

Columbia, Md., November 5, 2009 — Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), one of the nation’s largest and fastest growing customer relationship marketing agencies, today announced that its Response Management Group has been selected by Alley Cat Allies to provide contribution processing services in support of the organization’s direct mail fundraising program. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Alley Cat Allies is a national advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and improving the lives of cats through education, outreach and support for Trap-Neuter-Return programs. The work was successfully transitioned from the previous service company in August and the contract is ongoing.

November 3, 2009, Third Sector — Charities are likely to lose millions in income if the postal strikes continue into the Christmas period, according to a report by the Institute of Fundraising.

October 9, 2009 - A number of key organisations are concerned that if the strikes continue between now and Christmas, seen as a key time for fund-raising, then appeals and donations will be severely hampered. They argue that the situation is exacerbated by the current economic downturn.

Everything about the Heritage Foundation's invitation to join its monthly giving program screams, "Look at me! Open me! I'm irresistible!"

Peabody, MA, September 30, 2009 — Amergent, a full-service agency in direct response fundraising services and database management solutions, is pleased to announce that the firm’s work received two gold awards in the fourth annual National Catholic Development Conference (NCDC) Lumen Awards.

September 18, 2009, The New York Times — WITH the economic downturn kindling a longing for less volatile eras, many companies have turned to nostalgia marketing. Examples are Volkswagen, featuring a 1964 Beetle in advertisements, General Mills, selling Cheerios and other cereals in retro boxes, and Nationwide Insurance, resurrecting its “Nationwide is on your side” catchphrase.

Learn how Covenant House captured the Package of the Year and the top award for a mid-level renewal package. Also, learn the specifics about the City Harvest package that won the award for the best renewal campaign and how Helen Keller International captured the most votes for the best acquisition package. In addition to highlighting the key success factors for these great direct mail packages, we will also walk through the strategy behind our e-mail campaign award winner, PetSmart Charities.

September 2, 2009, MediaPost — According to the USPS Household Diary Study, in 2008, U.S. households received 148.6 billion pieces of mail, and sent 21.3 billion. Mail sent or received by households constituted 81% of total domestic mail in FY 2008. 56% of the mail households received was sent Standard Mail. Only 4% of household mail, and about 3% of total mail, was sent between households; the rest was sent between households and non-households.

Despite our use of the Internet for everything from doing research to ordering pizza, direct mail is still the most effective way for nonprofits to raise funds. In their new book, "7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail," Sandra Sims, founder and president of nonprofit resource firm Step by Step Fundraising, and Sandy Rees, a nonprofit fundraising coach, author, speaker and trainer, map out seven steps to effective direct-mail strategies.