Bring your nonprofit’s cause to life by sharing a photo or a special handwritten note from those you impact. As we mentioned in the previous section, telling your story is key for fundraising and visuals can drive your mission home to those who see them. Who are the people delivering your nonprofit’s programs and services? Ask if they’d be willing to share any anecdotes or connect you directly with someone who has a powerful personal story they may be willing to share.
Allegiance Group + Pursuant makes achieving direct mail success simple.
When the time comes, we recommend following the tips in this guide on how to ask for donations. The third and final factor to consider is your budget for the campaign. Once you’ve taken all three of these factors into consideration, you should have a good sense of which format will work best for your nonprofit’s next direct mail campaign. Another important element to consider is the tone of your solicitation.
How Did We Manage Donor Relationships Before COVID-19?
- It’s essential to plan strategically and consider these factors to maximize the impact of your campaign.
- When you are sick of hearing the message, it will begin to penetrate your audience.
- When executed as part of a comprehensive strategy, direct mail is an invaluable asset to your nonprofit’s fundraising endeavors.
- Instead of mailing 5,000 prospects, send the fundraising items to 500 to 1,000 people first.
- Request your free sample pack to feel the quality or book a demo to see how LettrLabs powers direct mail for nonprofits across the country.
Make sure that your outer envelope is eye-catching and includes a clear call to action. From matching gifts toiderable tax deductions, there are many reasons why people donate to charities. But what drives someone to open their wallet and write a check? In order to be successful, direct mail fundraising needs to do more than simply ask for a donation; it needs to make a compelling case for why the recipient should give. When it reaches this level, it is a vital part of your nonprofit fundraising strategy. From handwritten thank-yous to high-volume fundraising campaigns, mail remains a cost-effective, high-ROI way to reach donors directly, tell your story, and drive measurable results.
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All of us are concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. On a personal level, we’re worried about the health and safety of our families and friends. On a professional level, we’re worried about the impact on our organization and industry. Where allowed, consider traveling by car to meet donors, maintaining social distancing, sanitizing your hands and wearing a mask at all times. Be sure to research and implement Covid-19 guidelines if you seek to organize an event for groups, whether at an inside or outdoor venue. A short, timely message to meet the moment keeps you part of the conversation and shows supporters they’re seen and valued, even when you’re not making an ask.
A/B testing can provide valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to refine your approach for better results. By coordinating all aspects of production and distribution, fulfillment services ensure materials arrive on schedule. Track customer responses, sales conversions, and compare them against campaign costs to determine ROI. Fulfillment covers everything from production to delivery, ensuring that your mail reaches the intended recipients on time.
You should be sending a different fundraising appeal to prospective donors than your existing donors. You need to speak differently to each of your audiences to see the biggest ROI. This tactile experience can also make a bigger emotional experience for the recipient. How often do you hold onto physical mail and put it on the fridge to remind yourself of an upcoming event or showcase a memory? Bethany Health Care Center, who have taken the plunge to use direct mail at this time have been successful. They had the courage to fundraise during COVID-19 and it paid off.
Personalized mail resonates more with recipients, fostering stronger connections and higher response rates. Track metrics like response rate, conversion rate, and overall sales lift. Personalized mail often leads to higher ROI compared to generic campaigns. Automation streamlines the process from design to delivery, saving time and reducing errors. Best of all, our pricing is transparent, with no hidden fees or long-term contracts. Whether you’re mailing 100 postcards or 10,000 letters, you get the same enterprise-grade tools.
IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY
Also, be sure your website includes an email signup form so constituents can stay in the loop. Remember that overall, it’s more important to align with what your supporters want rather than blindly following trends. Refer to your data to make inferences about what would motivate your audience to engage. An experienced marketing agency can also provide guidance about which tactics and strategies to use. After performing extensive research and organizing your findings, you and your direct mail agency can begin brainstorming potential concepts for the campaign.
When you are sick of hearing the message, it will begin to penetrate your audience. The professional use of direct mail fundraising requires an 10 tips for nonprofit direct mail fundraising during covid understanding both of the principles and practice of direct marketing and of the discipline of fundraising. In direct marketing, practitioners view large numbers of prospects or donors through the lens of statistics. Fundraising teaches us how to view prospects or donors as individuals, with unique values, beliefs, and preferences. Above all, Salsa’s direct mail solutions help nonprofits overcome donation obstacles and perfect winning fundraising strategies. Meyer Partners works with your organization to help you develop the perfect direct mail fundraising strategies to meet your goals, maximize fundraising outcomes, and further your cause.
- There are a lot of forward-facing, experientially-based organizations.
- In this article we’ll share our top tips to see success with direct mail fundraising.
- To strengthen donor relationships and highlight tangible results, communications should be impact-focused.
You want to stay with the core message, offer, and creative approach that has worked in the past. And with house-file mailings you should also refine your audience and your message but stay true to your core message and mission. The goal of this kind of nonprofit mailing, also known as direct mail solicitation, is to engage your audience. You want them to read your letter, understand your message, and, most importantly, take action. 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.
Create an Integrated Experience
Using bold or italicized fonts for key phrases can help grab attention and ensure that your message is remembered long after the direct mail piece has been discarded. Ellipses, indents, handwritten notes all add to keeping the reader’s eyes moving down the page and catching the important parts of your message to drive up the response rate. Fundraisers have to be strategic when it comes to designing their direct mail fundraising campaigns.
Effective Communication
In case you’re still doubting the power of direct mail for nonprofits, we have some statistics here to back up our claims. Biweekly meetings are a good place to start, although you may want to meet weekly for new or particularly complicated engagements. These meetings should help ensure deadlines are met, and necessary adjustments are made. Quarterly planning can also be helpful to ensure strategy and goals are on track.