Direct Mail

The best nonprofit donors are the people that are most targeted by competing fundraisers, said Herschell Gordon Lewis, direct marketing guru and president of Lewis Enterprises, in his session “Using Mail and E-mail to Boost Nonprofit Response” at the Direct Marketing Association’s 2006 Annual Conference & Exhibition in San Francisco last week. Trends for the 21st century, for marketers and nonprofit organizations alike, are increasingly emphatic persuasion; inclusion of validation; increasing informality; and the promise of fast action. Lewis offered the following tips for boosting response through mail and/or e-mail: 1. Pose questions asking people to donate, bestow or bequeath. Questions are automatically reader

Attendees at my two-day “Secrets of Copywriting” seminar at the DMA 2006 Annual Conference in San Francisco last week brought samples for a critique. And almost every sample from the fundraising sector — and virtually every appeal I receive — has the same problem. I mean that literally: They all look the same. And I’m not even talking about the free address labels and note cards. Please don’t think me callous when I say typically, there’s a lovable dog to save, a needy child to support, a desperate disease or disaster victim to rescue … along with formulaic copy such as: “We do important

We live in a world of slogans. Whether through advertising or in the news we get on TV, slogans are everywhere. If you have a message, a catchy or otherwise memorable slogan can make it stick. While nonprofit organizations are not marketers or TV spin doctors, they too have messages that they struggle to have heard above the din. Using slogans of their own is one way to do that, as evidenced in this summer 2006 mailing from the ACLU. The No. 10 outer envelope is edged with a stately red, white and blue-striped border and features a headline that reads, “Crucial decisions are going

With this mailing, the Ocean Conservancy isn’t just presenting its mission, educating donors and asking for donations, it’s creating activists — “soldiers of the sea,” if you will. Sent in a 6-inch-by-9-inch four-color outer with a picture of a whale splashing in the sea, the mailing includes a sheet of personalized name and address labels, an “Advocate for wild, healthy oceans” decal and an offer of an Ocean Conservancy windbreaker — along with membership to the organization — with a gift of $15 or more. But the Ocean Conservancy doesn’t just give prospects the tools to pass on its brand and message; it educates them

For zoos, aquariums and museums, membership comes with some serious benefits, most often free admission. But when it comes to such institutions, there often are differing motivations for becoming a member: cost savings and status. This membership mailing from The Museum of Modern Art lays out both options — and giving levels in between — but aims to net the latter. Sent in a 4-inch-by-7.5-inch off-white, invitation-style outer envelope, it bears a live stamp and, just above the MoMA return address, the line, “Agnes Gund, President Emerita.” Announcing that it’s a personal invite from MoMA’s president from the start makes the mailing scream “high touch.”

A few years ago, a school I attended launched a multi-million dollar capital campaign. Because I regularly give to its annual appeal and a few other random appeals each year, the school probably considers me a mid-level donor — reliable for some support but not necessarily worth a lot of face-to-face cultivation.

When it comes to direct-mail appeals from Doctors Without Borders/Medecines Sans Frontieres, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one lacking a sense of urgency. As an international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by conflicts, epidemics and disasters, MSF writes urgency into everything it does — and it’s in the mail a lot asking for donor support. Still, the sense of urgency doesn’t get old or lose its effect because it’s real. For the most part, the organization’s mailings are relatively sparse, and the letters often use a typewriter font, making them feel as though they were hurriedly typed from the

This mailing from the Humane Society of the United States employs a unique freemium of a diary, but keeps it anything but secret. Written in maroon on the white 4.5-inch-by-8.5-inch outer is the teaser, “The enclosed FREE GIFT will help you throughout your day!” Inside the mailing — sent to HSUS members — is a 3.5-inch-by-7-inch reply device, a BRE, the 4-inch-by-6-inch four-color diary and a 7.25-inch-by-10.25-inch four-page letter. The paperback-weight cover of the diary has an adorable illustration of a puppy and kitten sleeping cheek to cheek. Inside are blank diary pages, as well as a mini-calendar and address-book pages. On the back

This mailing from Eight/KAET, Arizona State University’s public radio station, is a membership renewal sent to the station’s Friends of Eight members that combines simplicity and friendliness in a way that is incredibly endearing. The blue No. 10 outer envelope has the teaser, “We took a chance on you … ” and a simple, cartoon-like illustration of a man holding a pole and walking on a tight rope. Inside is an 8.5-inch-by-10.5-inch double-sided letter with a perforated reply slip at the bottom. At the top of the letter, just below the organization’s logo and address information, is the same image of the man on

The bright, red #10 outer of this mailing sent by Emily’s List, a political network for pro-choice Democratic women, bears the teaser, “URGENT: Candidate Recommendations.” Inside, in addition to the donation ask for eight candidates for Congress (0n the yellow 7-inch-by-8.5-inch reply device) are eight 3.5-inch-by-4.5-inch cards — one for each candidate. On one side of each card is a black-and-white portrait photograph of each candidate with her name and the office she’s running for — e.g., “Diane Farrell, Running for U.S. Congress: Connecticut.” The other side of each card repeats the candidate’s name and lists in bullet points three key reasons to support