Direct mail is one of the most classic and effective marketing tools nonprofits can leverage for fundraising. However, determining how it fits into your future marketing strategy can be a challenge.
By utilizing technology to support direct mail marketing campaigns, nonprofits can maximize their reach and increase their ROI. In other words, when you tailor your messaging and donor lists to those who are most responsive to direct mail, you can strengthen your nonprofit’s outreach efforts, build better relationships with your supporters, and secure donations.
Let’s explore four tips to keep your direct mail marketing fresh and lucrative.
1. Segment Your Donors
Carefully selecting recipients can help cut costs for the campaign and ensure you’re sending the right messages to the right people. Use your donor database to select previous, current, and prospective donors who would be most likely to give to this campaign. According to Meyer Partners’s direct mail fundraising guide, you may pull donor lists from two different sources:
Housefile: Your nonprofit’s housefile is a list of its past and current supporters. The recipients on this list have already demonstrated an affinity for your cause, meaning they may be willing to help you meet a certain fundraising goal or increase the amount or frequency of their gifts.
Prospect list: Prospective donors are those who haven’t engaged with your organization in the past, but may be willing to. Your nonprofit might conduct prospect research on its own or purchase, rent, or trade prospect lists with other nonprofits for your campaign. Ideally, these prospects will become dedicated supporters of your cause and move into your housefile as a result of your direct mail marketing campaign.
Past giving trends are the key predictor of future giving, meaning that donors who have been responsive to direct mail in the past and those who donate via mail are obvious donor segments to choose from. Use your prospect list for your donor acquisition efforts and focus other direct mail marketing materials on refined messages for a greater ROI.
Additionally, look for recurring donors within those segments that you have the potential to upsell. Today, predictive modeling is available to harness the power of artificial intelligence to look at each and every past contribution—helping you meet your goals for net revenue as well as donor retention.
2. Personalize Your Appeals
Generous donors typically receive mail from multiple organizations. Be sure to tailor messages appropriately for key constituency segments to maximize the impact of your appeals and make them stand out. Use data related to their past engagement to refresh your content with more relevant messages.
Here are some pieces of information to include when personalizing direct mail:
First and last name
Previous donation amount(s)
How many times they have donated
Past volunteer experiences
As feasible, add handwritten notes or signatures to underscore your personal relationship with, and appreciation of, the donor. You will need to weigh how many notes can be added on a timely basis, but perhaps your CEO and major gift officers can add handwritten notes for donors in their portfolios. You want donors to feel special and remind them that their individual contribution has a large impact.
3. Include a Call to Action
What’s the next step the donor can take to further their engagement with your cause? Here are some simple ways to guide donors to the next step when sending appeals:
Make the ask. Asking for a gift is both straightforward and something of an art. Once you’ve captured donors’ attention with a compelling message catered specifically to them, you must clearly lay out the next step you want them to take. Maintain a genuine respect for the donor and an appreciative tone.
Include a pre-addressed reply envelope. Help donors more easily send in their donations by providing a pre-addressed reply envelope. By reducing the effort required to respond, you’ll increase the chances that the donor follows through with their gift and acts on your direct mail appeal.
Direct supporters to your giving page. Many nonprofits wrongfully assume that digital marketing is the only way to inspire action. Direct mail boasts higher response rates, but online and offline marketing channels can work hand-in-hand to ensure you reach as many donors as possible. Embrace a multichannel strategy by including a URL or QR code to direct supporters to your online giving page.
Consider including additional information about your nonprofit like your website address, social media accounts, or upcoming event dates without overcrowding your appeal. It should be clear to recipients that the point of your direct mail marketing is a singular call to action. Make your appeal stand out and subtly incorporate other information in case donors want to learn more.
4. Share The Impact of Donor Giving
Beyond sending appeals, it’s very important to promptly thank donors and inform them of the impact of their giving.
Here are some types of messages that can demonstrate donors’ impact:
Donor appreciation. A simple thank-you can go a long way when it comes to stewarding donor engagement. Be creative with your appreciation messages to capture donors’ attention and let them know their contributions are making an impact.
Annual reports. Keep donors informed by sending your annual report or a summary highlighting your nonprofit’s accomplishments. Donors will feel involved in your work when they understand exactly how donations create change through your organization.
Volunteer requests. Often, other opportunities for involvement can appeal to recipients who otherwise wouldn’t have responded to your appeal. Offer donors the opportunity to get hands-on experience and do more for your nonprofit by including a calendar with volunteer dates and a URL to your volunteer sign-up page.
When you’re deciding what content to include, consider your short- and long-term goals. For example, if you’re nearing the year-end giving season, sending annual reports can be most helpful. Or, you may focus on volunteer requests if your campaign falls near a holiday or culminates in a big event. Be sure to personalize the messages for each supporter segment to maximize the impact of your campaign.
At the close of your direct mail content, remember to include upcoming event dates and times. While this information shouldn’t take away from your call to action, it can get supporters energized and excited to participate.
Direct mail plays a huge role in acquiring donors, keeping them engaged, and raising net revenue. To ensure your direct mail marketing campaign is successful, consider testing different elements of your messages, such as headlines and calls to action. Evaluate how recipients respond to different phrasings or message structures and adjust your approach accordingly for future mailings.
The key is to use available tools like donor segmentation, personalization, and compelling calls to action to maximize results and raise more money for your mission. With the right mailing list and message, your nonprofit can exponentially increase its impact.
Bonnie Meyer
Bonnie brings to her role at Meyer Partners more than 30 years of fundraising experience, with a special emphasis in multimedia approaches to new donor acquisition and development. Her expertise encompasses several facets of direct response fundraising, including copy writing and creative direction, market research, strategic planning, and comprehensive results analysis.
