Time to wrap up my series on 20 Things You Should Know Before Planning Your Next Direct Response Campaign. My final article examines the effectiveness of direct mail and why every nonprofit needs to continue investing in this key fund development strategy.
19. Direct mail is not dead—it’s just changing
In December 2013, Lois Geller, Forbes contributor, posted this comment: “If Direct Mail is dying, it’s sure taking its time about it.” Geller concluded that the enduring power of direct mail is connected to two often-overlooked societal phenomena. “1) Direct Mail remains the only way to reach reasonably affluent males, and 2) The over-50 crowd, already large and growing, has a lot more money than younger folks, and they’re just as happy to deal with you in print as they are in the cyber world.”
Geller is not alone. Barbara Morris, a contributor to the Huffington Post blog, also supports the continued effectiveness of direct mail. “When balanced with the right creative and optimal data, direct mail can deliver more than just a meaningful piece of mail; it can boomerang a powerful return on investment.” Morris went on to defend her position:
“A study done by the Direct Marketing Association found that the response rate for direct mail to an existing customer averages 3.4 per cent, compared to 0.12 per cent for email. Market Scan found that the figure for available emails is around 20 per cent of postal addresses, meaning that by avoiding direct mail you could be missing 80 per cent of your target market. And people who do use email regularly have become savvier at blocking out sales messages with advanced filters. If in the event, email messages are actually read, they are quickly forgotten or buried by new messages. People also abandon email accounts and create new ones about once a year, so even solid leads expire quickly.”
And the strength of direct mail is not just restricted to North America. According to sources quoted by Suzanna Stock of B2B Marketing, 48 per cent of the UK population responded to direct mail over the past year, 62 per cent of people like to receive offers via mail, and 56 per cent of people welcome mail that provides useful information. Stock goes on to say that “The ROI of direct mail has increased year-on-year for the last decade.”
All you have to do is spend a few minutes online researching the current state of direct mail and you will come across a plethora of postulations on why this marketing and fundraising medium is still highly effective. However, I like the reason given by Susan Scher of the Baltimore Women’s Business Examiner best. “Paper is different. You can feel it. You can fold it and unfold it; you can read it and reread it. An envelope with a piece of paper in it is real, it’s concrete; it’s not ephemeral, like electronic marketing.”
Direct mail is not dead—far from it. It still leads the way in generating contributions from individuals by a long shot. Even telemarketing and face-to-face interactions are leaps and bounds ahead of online giving and email appeals. However, direct mail is changing. Today, successful DM strategies are far more targeted, highly personalized, and seek to create a relationship with the recipient. They also include online complementary strategies such as email warm ups and follow ups, telephone reminders, and stewardship vehicles. This is not the time to abandon direct mail. Instead, learn about existing trends and successful tactics and how DM can bring your organization and its donors closer together.
20. The value of investing in direct response—look beyond initial returns
Direct response is one of the most important investments your organization can make in its future. Given that organizations may live or die by the support they receive from individuals, direct response not only allows you to acquire new donors, it is the prime vehicle to cultivate donors from the first $25 contribution to that final planned gift.
While every campaign you plan and execute needs to make financial sense and generate a fair return on investment, don’t lose sight of your donor pyramid and the impact each campaign has on moving donors to the peak.
Planned Gifts
Major Contributions
Monthly Contributions
Repeated Donations Annually
Renewed Donations from Donors
First Time Donations From New Donors
Every campaign should have a strategy for moving donors up this pyramid. Single gift donors need to give more often and make larger donations. Repeat donors need to give on a monthly basis. Monthly donors can become major donors. And your very best donors are most likely your best planned-giving prospects.
Let me leave you with one more quote about direct mail fundraising. This one is from Ken Burnett, writer, publisher and fundraising consultant:
“At its heart direct mail fundraising is not about direct mail. It’s about one individual writing to another to describe an issue or cause they both care passionately about. If it is to work well, that written communication has to be engaging, compelling, urgent and important. Which means it has to be very well crafted. We may use technology and the postal service to convey our message simultaneously to hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people all at the same time. So what? That’s just a technical organizational challenge. Fundraising via the mail is not in essence about stuff like that. It’s about one person writing to another, offering them a chance to change the world.”
Check out the rest of the 20 things you should know before planning your next direct response campaign series:
Peter Hoppe is CEO of RHA Fund Development and a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). He has 30 years of leadership experience, consulting and working for charitable organizations. Peter is seasoned in many areas of non-profit management and fundraising, but holds special passion for individual giving and direct response. Peter has also conducted presentations and training workshops for many organizations and professional associations including the Association of Fundraising Professionals where he currently serves on the Board of Directors and the Marketing and Communications Committee. You can reach Peter by email.
