National Parks Conservation Association

The deepest downturn since the Great Depression may seem like the biggest seismic shift charities face. But it’s America’s demographic transition that has the potential to transform the philanthropic landscape. Nonprofits such as the Silicon Valley Community Foundation are already laying the groundwork for learning about the wishes and hopes of new groups of donors.

It's important in any economic conditions for nonprofits to effectively promote their missions, programs and fundraising campaigns — in other words, to properly establish and maintain their brands. And it's especially essential for them to get the branding right before jumping into new arenas like social networks.

Last year in Inside Direct Mail, we wrote that the nonprofit sector was experiencing a “pretty big downturn in premium use.” Not only were total numbers down, but so was the variety of premium types being offered. Indeed, nonprofit premiums had an undeniable presence in both the 2003 and 2004 calendar years. However, after doing some research in our Who’s Mailing What! Archive, it became clear that the premium’s grip on the sector was beginning to slip, with 23.1 percent of nonprofit mail including a premium offer in 2003 and 16.7 percent in 2004. Perhaps because of budget constraints and more conservative direct-mail

This mailing from the National Parks Conservation Association doesn’t look too different from the outside. The white, glossy outer consists of two 6-inch-by-9-inch panels folded together and tab sealed. The face panel is bare save the address box and NPCA return address, while the back displays a four-color thumbnail picture of a cliff and the teaser, “When you think of our national parks, what words come to mind?” When the seal is broken, the face panel opens to the left to show another panel with a picture of an evergreen forest and the word, “Magnificent?” When this panel is lifted to the right, three