A Look Inside the Outside

“The thought behind that is somebody’s actually put all of those stamps on that envelope,” she says, making it more personal and adding value.

Lester also sees First Class stamps used in mid- to high-dollar donor mailings. For this target group, a First Class stamp pulls such good results it outweighs the extra costs.

Another response booster is the Post-it note. New York PBS station Thirteen/WNET has been using a Post-it on the outer of its year-end pledge drive mailing since 2001, with much success. On the note is a simple message: “Dear Thirteen Supporter, if you haven’t sent your Year-End Pledge Drive contribution, please do so now! Thank you.” Revenue for the mailing consistently has exceeded costs, says James Boyle, associate director of basic membership.

Post-its are expensive, Kinch says, but when a client could afford to use them, they’ve worked well.

“The Post-it note looks a little more like a real person touched it, sent it, was involved in it. It conveys this intangible value that a human being has been somewhere near the [package] recently,” she explains.

Uppercue’s firm also affixed a personalized Post-it note to the outer of a mailing it created for the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The foundation’s president signed the note, which said, “I need to hear from you.” The message made such an impact that a donor called the president, saying he received the mailing, saw the note and called as soon as he could.