Direct Mail - still relevant?

Direct mail is still king as far as fundraising goes. Even with the advent of email addresses, blogs, online sign ups etc, the most money is still being raised from direct mail. We also know that if you sign up people on line you will need to convert them to direct mail if you want to keep them for more than a year.

In a recent survey conducted by the magazine Fundraising New Zealand, six organisations were asked to provide details about their direct mail campaigns in 2011. For all full run down on the results contact Tony Pilalis(you can find him on Linkedin) or view the www.foresee.co.nz website.

However I wanted to draw your attention to the changes in the average donation. The survey found that over the six organisations, the average donation had increased to $60.92, up from $33 in 2003 and $52.96 in 2008. Does this size of donation surprise you? Does it fly in the face of anecdotal comments you have been hearing? This shows the importance of getting the numbers right by testing. You don't want to be asking people for $25 if they are happy to give you $65,  When preparing your direct mail campaign, make sure you don't undersell yourself by asking for too little.

The other influencing factor in a successful direct mail campaign is to segment your database to make your correspondence more personal and the size of the request more appropriate. There are a number of ways of segmenting, for example according to size of previous gifts, number of previous gifts, average of the last year's gifts, whether they have ever given before, how they signed up, when they signed up, reference to personal interests. Can your database give you this information? Are you even collecting this kind of information?

Fundraising blog topics

Had a comment from Mike Kotlyar with a few good ideas for postings. Thanks Mike. Face to face is one that he mentions in particular, along with volunteer strategies, and of course direct mail. That reminded me that telemarketing is another hot topic. If you start to bristle at the thought of those particular fundraising tools, you have to remember that they may not be aimed at your demographic.

This brings to mind a little story that someone shared with me. She had been doing her direct mail letters and of course there were a few addressed to people that she knew. As we do, she scribbled a little message on a post it note to her friends, demonstrating the personal nature of the mailing. When the CEO, who was signing the letter saw the note, she was horrified and said that the letters should be formal and proper, not with little notes stuck on! She obviously hadn't seen a Readers Digest mailing! So we need to ensure that if we have the expertise, we remind the people we work for that our strategy is sound and based on research or evidence.

I also get lots of people who fear that their letters will end up in the rubbish bin. It's okay! You don't need to be too precious about your mailings. They will end up in someone's bin. Don't stress over it. It doesn't mean they don't love you. Just that on this occasion they aren't going to reply.

The same for telemarketing. Some people will reject the call. It's a fact of life. The  important thing is not to get communication nerves. Keep going and don't sweat the small stuff.

Too much communication?

Direct mail is a topic so close to the heart of all fundraisers but when you are starting out on your fundraising path you might ask the question “how many times should I be sending out communications to my stakeholders?”



I think the simple answer is that you send out as many mailings as your donor’s want to receive. So this means asking them!


Some organisations set up systems that allow for once a month pledges. Others communicate only a few times a year, one of which would be around the publication of their annual report. Not all communications needs to be a fundraising ask, once or twice a year it might be a copy of the stakeholder newsletter.

Campaigns are often based on time of the year, tax time or Christmas appeal for example. This might be supplemented with a special appeal for a crisis situation or a response to an emergency.

Some organisations that have multiple mailings each year may segment their database so not everyone gets every single communication. I know of one organisation that gives donors a pass for the next appeal. If they have responded to a particular appeal, they are not mailed for the next appeal.

Writing to regular donors is another contentious area. Some organisations will not send ordinary appeals to regular or recurrent donors. Sometimes this is a deliberate strategy not to over communicate with people who have already demonstrated their loyalty. However this must be balanced with a lack of communication which leaves regular donors thinking you don’t care any more. It’s especially important to build loyalty with recently acquired donors, particularly if you secured them through face to face or telemarketing or even on line. These donors will quickly leave you if you don’t build a more personal relationship with them.

There is no easy answer to “how many times should I communicate?” But my recommendation would be to err on the side of caution. If you communicate too much, the donor will probably tell you, and that’s good because a donor who calls up is one of your most loyal supporters! Communicate too little and the donor will think you don’t care!