You’ll find LTV on the same page as average donation amount, making it easy to analyze both at the same time. Direct mail continues to feel more personal, helping it build a deeper and stronger connection between your donors and your nonprofit organization. People like to see their names referenced in communications and relate best when they are addressed directly. Another way to determine which strategies will be the most impactful is to organize a breakthrough workshop. In this workshop, ask yourself if the concepts address key areas of concern for your target audience. Once you’ve gathered and interpreted these data points, use the audience profiles and market opportunities to structure early concepts for your direct mail campaign.
- While it’s nice to sit down and relax with a good novel in your free time, that’s not how you want your donors to feel when they open your direct mail.
- Doing so allows you to send customized letters to each group that reference your knowledge of the donors’ profile.
- Often, it can feel like a struggle to get your audience to stop, take notice, and engage with your message.
- Use the data you’ve gathered along the way to narrow down your most effective concepts and messaging strategies.
- We all know that it is more cost-effective to retain donors than it is to constantly acquire new ones (remember DAC!), so it is pertinent to track and measure retention of direct mail acquired donors.
The next step is to split your target audience into segments so you can create the most impactful message for each group. Use this to your advantage by using powerful storytelling and evidence to support your fundraising message, away from the busy digital world. While there are more ways to reach your donor base than ever before, direct mail can still be a valuable part of your fundraising strategy. Often, it can feel like a struggle to get your audience to stop, take notice, and engage with your message. Sometimes a tangible connection between your nonprofit and your donors is the ideal antidote.
How to write a thank you letter for a donation (free template!)
Draft your first round perfectly and use it for every donor in your segmented mailing list. An even more telling metric than average donation amount is donor lifetime value (LTV). This is one of the more aptly named fundraising effectiveness metrics.
Should you partner with a direct response fundraising agency?
Tell stories that actually happened, rather than mashups of your constituents’ experiences that don’t ring true. All of these benefits can ultimately help your organization raise more for your mission and cultivate meaningful relationships with donors. The goal is to get the reader to connect to the words and your cause, so simplicity is key. It’s always https://simple-accounting.org/ best to suggest amounts for their donation; i.e. “$10, $25, $50, $100, other” as an array of checkboxes to put certain amounts in the reader’s head. You can see this on our templates when designing our fundraising package. Understanding segmentation and personalization are just two elements to what makes a good fundraising Direct Mail campaign.
Donors appreciate the intimacy of a physical letter and often respond positively to your cause presented in a direct mail appeal, more so than they might in an email blast. With effective planning, customization, and implementation, direct mail fundraising can make the difference between missing and exceeding your fundraising goals. You’ve decided to add direct mail to your marketing strategy, but what’s the next step? Here’s how to craft an engaging direct mail campaign from start to finish. Direct mail fundraising is the process of planning, writing, printing, and sending letters to your target audience through the postal service. Instead of your donor opening up an email, they receive a tangible envelope in their mailbox.
Your average donation amount from recipients of a specific direct mail piece is right there for you. In fact, a Direct Marketing Association report from 2018 revealed that direct mail achieves a 4.4% response rate which is 37 times higher compared to email marketing rates at 0.12%. As you finalize your concepts and refine creative executions, begin drafting a specific timeline and implementation plan for the campaign.
Of individual donations to nonprofits, the vast majority is still driven by direct mail. Here are some keywords that are effective in direct mail fundraising for nonprofit organizations. In most fundraising for nonprofit efforts, you will discover that there are specific phrases or keywords that are most effective in capturing your reader’s attention.
The Ultimate Guide to Direct Mail Fundraising for Nonprofits
When reviewed a week later, test subjects showed a greater emotional response and memory for physical ads. Print appeals are more likely to stand out compared to clutter in digital channels. Employing the stories of individuals is a method of inspiring donors that is effective for both direct mail fundraising and digital fundraising. Direct mail fundraising is essentially a fundraising appeal sent through the mail. With the popularity of digital marketing, many nonprofit organizations are unsure if they should invest in direct mail fundraising as well.
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These words establish your organization as credible and highlight possible benefits for the donors. Once you have a deep understanding of your position in the market, you can begin outlining specific focus areas that will shape your direct mail campaign’s message. Direct mail fundraising, sometimes called direct mail solicitation or direct marketing, is the process of mailing requests for support to existing and prospective donors. With the help of mailing.com, you can create direct mail for non-profits that effectively builds organizations as well as serves the wants and needs of donors and members. Just remember that effective fundraising for non-profits is about meeting the wants of your audience. People give to other people because they’re responding to you as a person, not as an organization.
I recently wrote a lengthy piece on the importance of measuring donor acquisition cost (DAC). However, when the reader is skimming content, shorter sentences get the point across much more easily and quickly. Complex and compound sentences require readers (regardless of their reading ability) to slow down in order to comprehend the message. It can be difficult to parse through all of the information out there about this tried-and-true fundraising method.
Adjust headlines, images, CTAs, or even ask amounts to encourage the type of engagement that fits the right profile. Beyond these general categories, segment your audience further so you can tailor your appeals to specific groups. Plus, when supporters feel acknowledged as individuals, they are more likely to feel a sense of responsibility to respond. A key part of a direct mail fundraising letter is the story that the letter tells donors. When people read through their mail, you want to make sure you catch their attention right away.
They also know that supporters have a preference when it comes to communication channels. Adding direct mail to your existing communication methods can add variety to your appeals and increase the likelihood that a supporter will respond favorably. You’ll also enjoy other top-rated fundraising features, engage donors more effectively, and access a complete nonprofit CRM when you sign up for a Givebutter. Sign up for free today to kickstart your next direct mail fundraising campaign using the most-loved nonprofit fundraising platform. All this fundraising definitely involves sending appeals to your donor base. Whether you’re sending general donation requests, sponsorship requests, or end-of-year-appeals, it’s important to amplify your fundraising campaigns as broadly and loudly as possible.
In case you’re still doubting the power of direct mail for nonprofits, we have some statistics here to back up our claims. How many of those acquired donors are sticking around and donating next year or the year after that? We all know that it is more cost-effective to retain donors than it is to constantly acquire new ones good fundraising revenue on direct mail (remember DAC!), so it is pertinent to track and measure retention of direct mail acquired donors. While it’s nice to sit down and relax with a good novel in your free time, that’s not how you want your donors to feel when they open your direct mail. A good story won’t be impactful unless the recipient finds it relevant.
Maybe the most salient feature of the direct mail fundraising strategy is the personal connection. The closeness of this interaction offers an excellent chance to connect with donors through strong and compelling storytelling. To narrate a meaningful story in direct mail campaigns, you should use the three Rs – relevance, resonance, and respect. The most important thing to do when developing a direct mail fundraising strategy is to understand your target audience.
Our Solution? GivingMail – the people-powered direct mail company
Nonprofits will also want to find a direct mail partner that has options for appeals. Sometimes you’ll need to be asking for donations while other times you’ll be asking for volunteer support or sending out event invites. The less time you have to think about anything other than your cause, the better off your organization is. As pointed out earlier, people are more likely to read a piece of direct mail than other channels. If you need to convey important information or continuously share updates with supporters, especially if face-to-face communication is out of the question, direct mail is your best option. It can be used to share news about upcoming virtual events, urgent donation needs, or simply keep donors and supporters in-the-know.