5 Direct-Mail Fundraising Musts

Maximize your direct mail
To get the most out of your direct mail, make sure to include:

• Different giving options — for instance, always include planned giving and monthly giving options
• All the ways recipients can connect with your organization — homepage URL, social-media information, phone number and e-mail address

Don’t stop mailing
“When times are tough — and face it, they almost always are — the temptation is to save money by cutting back on direct mail, especially acquisition,” Battistelli Gardner said. But this is a mistake, because direct mail is still effective, and acquisition is vital for an organization to sustain itself for the long haul.

Be on the lookout for ways to trim costs without affecting response, she added, and look for opportunities to co-mail or cut back on the number of pieces you’d planned to drop, not the number to times or the number of campaigns.

For more fundraising tips on e-mail, social media, multichannel and more, check out the full Fast15 episode here.