Why You Should Mail and Email Your Donors More Often and More Strategically

“I just got a fundraising letter from that charity! That’s one every, single year! I’m being bombarded! I’m so mad, I’m never giving to that organization again!”

Said no donor ever. It’s an exaggeration, of course. Yet something like this is what nonprofits imagine and fear is happening in the minds of their donors when it comes to sending mail and email appeals.

As a result, some nonprofits pull back. They become way too cautious about the number of appeals they send. Some restrict it to four times a year. Some just twice a year. And some just once a year. 

This reaction comes from a mistaken notion about fundraising — that it’s somehow an intrusion in donors’ lives and that nonprofits are somehow being too pushy by sending multiple appeals. Nonsense.

Your Donors Want to Donate

Your donors want to hear from you. They want to know what your nonprofit is doing. They want to know when their help is needed. They want to donate. And they expect to donate because they understand how nonprofits operate. If they didn’t realize these things, they wouldn’t be on your donor rolls in the first place.

This works both ways. You want a relationship with your donors. You want to keep them interested and engaged in your mission. You want their support. And you want to retain their support year after year. It’s pretty hard to have that kind of relationship with donors if they hear from you only once or twice a year.

Your Nonprofit Will Raise More

All well and good, most nonprofits believe, until the dreaded too-much-mail complaint comes in, striking fear in every heart.

If you do get this complaint, simply ask your donor how often they want to hear from you and adjust your mail and email schedule accordingly. Or, even better, offer your donor the opportunity to join your sustainer program, so your donor can give as often as they like while receiving less mail. 

But this won’t be an issue for the vast majority of donors. In fact, when you send more mail and email, you’ll find that your donors respond. You’ll find that you raise more revenue. And you’ll find that you increase retention.

In addition, when you mail and email more often, you’re going to recoup your investment in acquisition much faster. And that will mean more donors and more revenue over the long run. 

In reality, there’s very little downside to mailing and emailing more often. 

But does that mean donors will respond to every appeal? Of course not. Your donors will respond to some and not others, depending on a whole range of factors, including the relevance of the appeal and the offer you’re making. But that doesn’t mean your donors don’t want to hear from you. And it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give donors every opportunity to take part in your mission. 

Your Nonprofit Will Have a Better Return on Investment

Still, it’s not about mailing more simply for the sake of mailing more — it’s about mailing strategically too. That means asking your donors in a survey how often they want to hear from you and through what media, and then honoring the preferences of the donors who respond.

It means mailing less to lower-dollar donors, so that the cost of mailing doesn’t exceed the revenue produced.

It means mailing more to higher-dollar donors and sending them appeals with higher production values and specialized messaging that will attract and hold their attention.

It means looking at lapsed donors more carefully, letting the lower-dollar lapsed donors go and focusing more on reactivating the higher-dollar lapsed donors.

It means adding extra appeals to the schedule during high response times of the year like Christmas, Thanksgiving and year end.

And it means sending a newsletter that highlights your nonprofit’s success stories. Even donors who balk at fundraising mail will like newsletters. If they’re done right, these newsletters are all about the good your donors do, and that goes a long way toward increasing revenue and retention.

Your nonprofit is operating right now because you’re doing something that your donors believe is good and necessary. So you have to stay in touch with them and remind them why your nonprofit’s work is important and why their support matters. Otherwise, they’re likely to forget all about you.

Bottom line, it’s vital to get your message in front of your donors — often. Don’t hide from them. Communicate with them and keep the conversation going with frequent mail and email touch points. They’ll appreciate you for it, and they’ll reward you with more generous and more frequent support.

The preceding post was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.