Here are some things to think about as you get started on your direct mail fundraising plan. After reviewing these tips, check out our example Annual Fund Direct Marketing Plan (or select downloadable version). Then find more information about each component of the plan.
The Ask
The Letter
The Response Card
The Envelope
The Postcard
A thank you to every donor
Prior to sending out your first mailing, be sure you have prepared a thank you response vehicle and send immediately upon receiving a gift. Make a phone call to larger donors.
Use multiple channels
- Using and coordinating multiple channels in your annual direct mail plan increases response and gifts.
- Follow the mailing with an e-mail to all recipients, and with a phone call for larger givers. Phone calls from volunteers especially increase the effectiveness of a mailing. They are most effective when the prospect already has a pledge card sitting on the kitchen counter waiting for action.
- Use follow-up phone calls to ask donors to convert to monthly credit card giving; donors are more likely to increase the frequency of the gift than the size.
- Encourage monthly debited giving on your response form and your website.
- Select donors whose highest gift is less than $50 and who have made at least two contributions and send them a special invitation to donate monthly. Explain the benefits.
- Create a named giving circle for those who give monthly.
- Use the pledge card to collect and update phone numbers and e-mails.
Keep the conversations going
- Don’t let your only communications be appeals for money. Let your donors and prospects know what their money is doing to help people and to deliver your organization’s mission. Send newsletters, e-mails, links to website stories, Facebook posts, and event invitations. Engage them with a survey. They’ll be more likely to give and to give more.
- Avoid including enclosures in the appeal mailing. Send additional information with the thank you letter or membership package.
Be persistent
- Experts advise sending three to eight appeals per year: spring, early fall, and December is the minimum schedule for previous donors.
- Many recipients will not open, will misplace, or will not act on the first appeal. Others will give two or three times during the year, or each time they’re asked.
- Some fundraisers worry that asking more than once is pestering, but remember how much noise there is in the market. Donors are bombarded with hundreds of messages every day. The smartest non-profits communicate every month and ask three times per year for a gift to the annual fund.
- Send additional appeals for other initiatives or major gifts.
- Maximize your gift renewal rate by continuing to ask previous donors who haven’t given yet this year. This is your first priority. Target 70 to 90 percent as a benchmark.
- Those who develop a habit of giving to your organization will be the most cost-effective donors, the most likely to increase giving, the most likely to become long-term consistent donors, and the most likely to contribute a major gift in the future.
Keep good data
- Review accuracy of data input regularly. Pay particular attention to correct spelling and addresses, salutations, gift dates and amounts, opt outs or preferences, and duplicates.
- Code every mailing and every segment in a mailing. Put the codes on the response card or return envelope and enter them accurately when received. Use donor ID numbers on response cards to improve data entry.
Set targets: Know your performance results and test when possible
There are many metrics you can track. Decide which are the long term drivers of improved performance and track those. Here are two of the most important for annual fund managers:
- Donor loyalty is the key annual fund performance metric over the long run; do you know your donor retention statistics by heart?
- Are your prospect pool size and prospect conversion rates high enough to compensate for annual donor attrition?
Keep learning
- Read the books in the bibliography
- Talk to other Annual Fund Managers
- Go to the coffees, educational seminars, and meetings:
- AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals)
- CONFR (Council on Fund Raising)
- CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education)
- NEHCP (New England Association of Health Care Philanthropy
Cost comparison of different letter appeal formats
Prices may vary depending on specific job specs and amount of data work:
| Quantity | 1,000 | 10,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Generic Letter 2/0 & Generic Response Card 1/1 | $600 | $2,735 |
| Generic Letter 2/0 & Variable Response Card 2/2 | $880 | $4,390 |
| Variable Letter 2/0 & Variable Response Card 2/2 | $1,120 | $5,700 |
| Variable Letter 2/0 & Variable Response Form 2/2 | $1,260 | $6,500 |
| Color Variable Letter 4/0 & Variable Response Form 2/2 | $1,280 | $6,700 |