A Look Inside the Outside

Kinch says she sees over-the-top teasers being replaced by more reserved ones.

Closing the window
Closed-face carriers, envelopes without poly windows, have pulled greater response rates but historically are much more expensive than standard envelopes. However, they’re becoming more economical, to the point of quickly paying for themselves, and are more personal.

“To me, direct mail works because it sounds like it’s from me to you, not from me to a million people,” Kinch says. “One of the ways I can do that is have it look like I actually wrote this letter to you.”

The Sierra Club tested a gray No. 10 with “Immediate Action Required To Preserve Endangered Species Act. Petitions Enclosed” copy on the outer against its three-year control: a closed-face, gray-wove No. 12. The closed face, Kinch says, won and it remains unbeaten.

The gifts that closed-face mailings reel in also can be higher. One of Kinch’s clients mails a closed-face carrier in acquisition that says only, “See what we can do,” on the outer.

“It struggles to get 1 percent, but it’s getting a $42 average gift. [It’s] bringing in donors for $8, $9, that are worth $400 in the first two years,” Kinch says. Lester says she’s seen closed-face outers work well with mid- to high-dollar donors.

Getting graphic
Like teasers, outer-envelope graphics don’t work for every organization. Graphics are key for some advocacy organizations, such as environmental groups, because a lot of what they’re trying to communicate is visual, Lester says.

The Center for Jewish History, a New York City-based repository for Jewish cultural and historical artifacts, finds success using graphics on its envelopes. The center incorporates copy and images of some of the historical documents it houses — old posters from the Yiddish theater, for example — on the outer envelope for its membership mailing. Highlighting these images in its direct mail makes sense for the organization, says Tamar Copeland, director of the center’s annual campaign.