Direct Mail

Big mistake to avoid in appeals

December 30, 2009 By Sandy Leave a Comment

I got a couple more email appeals yesterday from local organizations. One made a big mistake that I wanted to share with you so you can avoid it.

Overall, it was a good email appeal – photo, update on a couple of accomplishments for the year, reminder that year-end gifts are due this week, link to the website for the Donate Now button… then they also asked for me to participate in an event.

It’s a huge mistake to ask for multiple things in an appeal. You run the risk of people being torn about which thing to respond to. Ask for one thing and one thing only. Make it very simple and very clear what action you want the donor to take. Otherwise, you may be disappointed with the response you get.

Sometimes you shouldn't Ask for money

December 1, 2009 By Sandy 6 Comments

If you are running a direct mail campaign and sending appeals to your current donors, you are likely sending several fundraising letters throughout the year asking for money. But did you know that you should also send a few mailings that don’t contain an Ask for a gift?

A mailing without an Ask, or a non-Ask mailing, is an important part of your overall direct mail campaign. A non-Ask mailing helps build trust with your donors and shows them that you aren’t just always coming around with your hand out. It demonstrates your desire to communicate with the donor and it shows that you view them as more than just a checkbook.

If you ask for something in every mailing, your donors may become tired and might start avoiding anything with your return address. The last thing you want is for your donors to stop opening mail from you!

A carefully thought-out direct mail plan should contain appeals that are well spaced throughout the year and should include at least two non-Ask mailings. Here are some examples of things you can mail to your donors that don’t contain an Ask for money:

• Holiday card
• Valentine’s Day card
• Annual Report
• Gift Summary report for tax purposes
• Hand-written Thank You note

With a little brainstorming, you can probably think of other non-Ask mailings that you could send that are more specific to your organization.

A donor is not an ATM machine and good fundraising professionals know that. By sending non-Ask mailings, you are showing respect to the donor and their support of your organization.

Filed Under: Direct Mail, Donor Relations, General Fundraising Tagged With: nonprofit fundraising direct mail

Is this a good response?

July 12, 2009 By Sandy Leave a Comment

A small nonprofit serving children recently sent out their first direct mail appeal using a rented list. Now they want to know if their results are good or not.

In May, they sent out 1492 pieces. In April, they had been in the local news several times promoting Child Abuse Prevention Month. So far, they’ve received 1o gifts totalling $322 dollars. It cost them $427 to send the mailing, and their Board is concerned that they’ve lost money.

Now they’ve asked me how they’ve done. Here’s what I said:

It sounds like you picked the best possible time to mail. Good going on that – not everyone puts that much thought into the timing of their mailings. The publicity before the mailing will help the performance of the mailing.

If you mailed 1492 pieces and got 10 gifts back, that’s a response rate of 0.7%. 1% is average on a mailing like this. Your average gift size of $32 is about average for small organizations.

Overall, you did fine on this mailing compared to what other nonprofits receive on this kind of mailing. At first blush, the response can seem dismal- after all, you lost money. But you gained 10 new donors. If you can keep those 10 new donors giving for the next three or four years, you will more than make your money back.

Do you have a question about direct mail? Click on the comment link below and ask. And don’t forget that my “Secrets of Direct Mail Mentoring Course” starts on Tuesday. Click here to learn more or to sign up: http://www.getfullyfunded.com/directmailseries.html.

Filed Under: Direct Mail Tagged With: nonprofit direct mail