How often should I mail my donors? Should I ever call my donors? These are two questions I encounter on a regular basis when I am teaching or consulting. They each deserve careful consideration and can promote lengthy discussion.

16. The optimal mailing schedule

Mail too often and the cost of raising a dollar can sky rocket while your donors get annoyed and cancel their support.  If you don’t mail often enough, you lose donors through attrition and fail to maximize revenue potential. I have worked with organizations that only mail once a year as well as those that mail to their entire donor file every month. Both of these extremes are ill-chosen and do not serve your donors or your organization well.

The optimal mailing schedule provides your donors and prospects with a few options throughout the year to support your programs or services. Remember, just because your organization is ready to ask does not mean that someone is ready to respond. One or two appeals a year means that a greater percentage of your donors may miss or pass on the opportunity to give. If a year or more goes by without a contribution, that donor will be much more difficult to renew and your active donor file will erode while your lapsed file grows.

The optimal mailing schedule also does not mean one appeal after another. Response rates will decline and your expenses-to-revenue ratio will increase.  Donor fatigue will set in, and your active file will erode in the same way as it would with one or two appeals a year.

Optimally, donors should be provided with four to six opportunities to support your organization throughout the year. I believe that a four-campaign schedule with two reminders to non-respondents strikes an ideal balance in most cases.  Below is a schedule I often suggest to my clients:  

Should this schedule be a little too much for your organization to digest, you can always forego the spring special. However, try to ensure that six months doesn’t go by in between any appeal.

17. Telemarketing: A great way to cultivate and reactivate 

In 30 years, I’ve never come across someone who claimed to love getting that mid-dinner phone call asking for money. That doesn’t mean your organization should ignore this important direct response tool. While telemarketing may not be a cost-effective way to renew loyal donors or acquire new ones, calling your donors is one of the best ways to convert them to monthly giving or reactivate lapsed activity.

I often suggest at least one call a year to generous and/or frequent donors that encourages monthly giving. While the initial cost may appear high, it usually only takes six to nine months in monthly contributions for your organization to re-coup this expense. The next four to six years in monthly gifts—or more with the proper stewardship—is almost pure profit.

I also suggest a call at the end of the year to prevent donors who have not given over the past 11 months from lapsing in their support. Again, the initial cost may seem high, but you only have to compare that price tag to the expense of replacing these donors with direct-mail acquisition in order to see that calling may be the more expedient and cost-effective solution.

Telemarketing also offers other quick and effective solutions should your organization need to rally the troops during an emergency, engage donors in advocacy, conduct a survey on programs and services, or simply communicate new information about your cause. Just as we are all learning to collect email addresses, we should not forget to ask for telephone numbers.

Check out the rest of the ‘20 things you should know before planning your next direct response campaign’ series:

Part 1: All roads lead to a planned gift

Part 2: Measuring success

Part 3: The true value of incentives, swag and monthly donors

Part 4: Components of a great letter and the importance of variable copy

Part 5: What goes in your direct mail package

My next article in this series will explore the role of online communications in direct response. Stay tuned for: Email Appeals – A double-edged sword, and Social Media – Acquisition and cultivation through engagement.

Please let me know if you have anything to add to the sections and advice above. Stay tuned for my next article when I will talk about the ideal direct response schedule and the integration of telemarketing and social media.Please feel free to contact me at phoppe@rhafund.com.