Horah Group

In “Star Wars Episode IV,” Luke Skywalker struggles to convince Han Solo to help him save Princess Leia, stuck in the detention block on the Death Star. “But they’re going to kill her!” Han Solo’s cold response? “Better her than me.” So Luke changes tack, and after a beat says, “She’s rich.” Han Solo comes back with, “How rich?” Encouraged, Luke blurts out, “More money than you can imagine.” Han smiles, saying, “I don’t know, I can imagine quite a bit.” You know the rest of the story: Han opts in, Luke and Han take some significant risks, the Princess is rescued, and then

One of the goals of a direct-mail appeal should be a personal connection, says Dick Goldsmith, chairman of The Horah Group, a full-service direct-marketing agency. Appeals that refer to previous donations and unique ask strings based on previous donations can help add that personal connection. Using variable data is another way to connect with recipients, Goldsmith says. It can give a national organization the ability to, for example, overlay recipients’ geographic information into a direct-mail campaign to talk about how it’s helping people in the recipient’s local community. “If they can tell me that they help people who were hit by floods

Four Keys to Cutting DM Production Costs April 18, 2006 By Abny Santicola, editor, FundRaising Success Advisor Even if your organization isn't able to do much testing of your direct-mail packages, there are some tried-and-true ways of cutting costs that are worth considering. Richard Goldsmith, president of New York City-based direct-response fundraising agency The Horah Group and author of the book "Direct Mail for Dummies," shares the following tips: 1) Use lighter-weight paper. 2) Use envelopes with an open window instead of a poly window, unless you're mailing internationally. 3) Clean your list. "Use all of the Postal Service products for mail-update services to