Nonprofit Direct Mail Fundraising Tips and Best Practices

In today’s fast-paced digital world, one would think sending direct mail would be a thing of the past, especially when it comes to fundraising. However, statistics show that sending a good old-fashioned letter is still one of the most effective tools for generating revenue.

In this article we’ll share our top tips to see success with direct mail fundraising. But first, we’ll explain why you should consider direct mail as a part of your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy.

What is Nonprofit Direct Mail Fundraising?

Direct mail is any physical marketing mail you get in your mailbox. It becomes nonprofit fundraising direct mail when you add an appeal for donations to potential supporters. This could be anything from an appeals letter with a story about your cause, a postcard with a donation form on the back or a detailed impact report with a reply envelope to mail funds.

When creating a direct mail fundraising strategy for nonprofits, make sure you keep your mission at the core of your donation ask. Include ways to reach your website to learn more about your cause and the impact your fundraiser makes.

Why Use Direct Mail for Fundraising

Email is one of the most common and cost-effective ways to fundraise as a nonprofit, so why even consider direct mail?

Less Competition

Think about how many emails you get in a day. How many of those are deleted without being read? How many automatically go into your spam or junk folder without even laying eyes on a subject line?

If your mailbox is anything like mine, I get less than 5 pieces of physical mail a day. When it comes to email, my inbox is cluttered with 50 or more emails a day. Direct mail reduces the digital noise a prospective donor sees, making your fundraising appeal stand out, more likely to be fulfilled.

Tangible Presence

Being able to physically see and touch an envelope makes a bigger impact. Before throwing a piece of direct mail away, you have to hold it, look at the sender and most of the time, you open it to see what’s inside.

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? If your fundraising letter shares an impactful story, powerful imagery or highlights an upcoming fundraising event, there’s a higher likelihood of becoming a physical reminder stuck to a fridge instead of in the trash.

Direct Mail Statistics

Studies show that direct mail results in higher response rates when compared to other fundraising strategies. Here’s some stats to consider:

• 39% more time is spent viewing direct mail than email
• 79% of donors will act on a postcard immediately.
• 82% of people trust direct mail marketing
• 80-90% of direct mail gets opened
• Direct mail has an ROI of 112%

Direct Mail Fundraising Best Practices

Now that we’ve hopefully convinced you that direct mail is not a thing of the past – let’s dive into our top tips for your direct mail fundraising strategy!

Know Your Audience

This is key. Understanding your audience to the best of your ability and then customizing your direct mail strategy to meet their needs and expectations will work wonders for your results.

Knowing your audience means figuring out what makes them tick. Why are they interested in your cause? What motivates them to donate? Most importantly of all: are they existing donors or new prospects who have never given before?

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.

Here’s a couple of examples:

• If someone has never donated to your nonprofit before, the direct mail you send them should provide more context about your mission and what a donation means to you.
• An existing supporter who has responded well to appeals that include impact stories will likely donate when sent a letter about your most recent community service.

WildApricot tip: just as you want to tailor the content of your direct mail, make sure you personalize it too! 75% of individuals feel special when mail is personalized, so use recipient names to increase your fundraiser’s efficacy.

Share Stories, Not Statistics

Stories drive donations.

Why?

Because generosity is motivated by emotions, not logic. And what better way to trigger emotions than through the power of storytelling?

Here are a few tips for incorporating storytelling into your direct mail campaigns:

Ask for Personal Experiences

Who are the people delivering your nonprofit’s programs and services? They’re the ones with access to the best stories. 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. Always make sure the individual whose story you’re sharing is comfortable being featured, has signed a consent form and has indicated whether or not they prefer to remain anonymous.

Who’s Writing Your Letter?

Direct mail letters don’t need to come from the leader of your organization. Try writing your letter from the perspective of an individual whose life has been changed by your services or from a frontline service provider. This creates a central character whose experiences are driving the narrative of your letter.

Use an Informal, Conversational Tone

Direct mail isn’t the place for organizational speak. Drop the jargon and terminology and write as though you’re chatting with an old friend.

Don’t Shy Away From the Details

Humanity lies in the details. Sharing difficult or poignant details — such as the moment your storyteller was told they had cancer, or the toy a child brought with them when they were taken into foster care — helps deepen readers’ emotional connection to your cause.

Use Pictures or Handwritten Notes

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.

Think about sending a postcard with an image of your volunteers working at a recent service opportunity and on the back write a short, but sweet direct mail appeal with a QR code to donate.

A handwritten letter from a real person who supports your mission, wether this is someone who volunteers or has benefitted from your organization’s work is a powerful type of marketing as well. Put that direct mail piece into an envelope with a donation form to give your target audience an easy way to contribute to your nonprofit immediately after reading.

Keep It… Long?

It may hurt you to read this, but for many, long letters perform better than short letters when it comes to nonprofit direct mail. Four, six, eight pages: if that’s how long it takes to tell a great story, then go for it. Take that, digital age!

So use the luxury of space to tell a powerful story, but make sure your lengthy narrative is easy to skim. If you love bolding and underlining, this is your time to shine!

Indent your paragraphs, incorporate white space, bold and underline key points and always include a P.S. that reiterates your donor’s impact and your specific ask.

Don’t Forget About Your Outer Envelope

You may have written the Greatest Fundraising Letter of All Time, but how can you make sure your recipients will actually read it? Two words: outer envelope, also known as OE.

There’s no magic bullet when it comes to creating the perfect OE, but there are some best practices to keep in mind. And just like most things related to direct mail, what you think makes the most sense will probably backfire.

For example: while you may think a full colour image on the front of the OE will differentiate your mailing, all too often recipients mistake these letters for junkmail. A plain, number 10 envelope tends to work best.

Check out this blog post for specific tips on creating a winning OE.

But remember, what works for one organization may not work for another. Test out a couple different iterations of your OE and see what gets the best response!

Offer Multiple Ways to Give

Just because you send your donation appeal through direct mail doesn’t mean the only option is to mail a check back to your nonprofit. Being flexible with the ways your supporters give will increase your chances of getting a donation and making the the experience better for donors.

Some individuals want to give via credit card or debit card, whereas some prefer traditional checks or cash. The more tech-savvy may opt for the exclusively digital route of Apple Pay or Paypal. Through direct mail fundraising you can offer all payment options!

Here’s the giving options you should implement:

• QR code: link your donation page or donation page directly in your letter. Supporters have the option to use their preferred form of payment via your link.
• Website link: list your website’s link in the letter for donors to type into their browser via their preferred technology (smartphone, computer, tablet etc.)
• Return envelope: include a prepaid return envelope to mail a check or cash directly back to your nonprofit.

Create an Integrated Experience

If you want to elevate your nonprofit direct mail game even further, think about how you could create an integrated campaign across multiple channels.

Sound confusing? It’s not — it just requires a little coordination.

Integration essentially means your reader is seeing the same story no matter how they’re interacting with your organization. The story in your direct mail letter should also be featured in some way on your webpage, your social media channels and your e-blasts.

Having a multichannel approach to your fundraising strategy will also yield a better result. “Campaigns that use direct mail and at least one type of digital media experience a 118% lift in response rate.”

Remember, not every person in your donor base responds the same way to all forms of marketing, but your message will be the same no matter where someone hears it.

Direct Mail for the Win

Now is not the time to pump the brakes on your fundraising efforts, particularly when it comes to direct mail.

If you can focus on finding great stories, getting creative and helping your donors realize the true impact of their generosity, you’ll have a winning formula every time.

(But you should keep testing anyway. Always test. And test again.)