Everything Old Is New Again: Direct Mail

I cut my fundraising teeth in the annual giving world. Ken File, a longtime mentor and friend of mine and retired president of the Delta Tau Delta Educational Foundation, Goodwill Industries, and Damar Foundations, offered me my first job working to boost the fraternity foundation’s annual fund. Over those first few years, we tried a lot of things, including the launch of the first telefundraising center in the fraternity world, an undergraduate giving society, and the expansion of a midpoint giving program. 

But nothing worked as well as the good ol’ fashioned direct mail program. 

Remember these? Direct mail still works!

Let me clarify that statement. Nothing worked as CONSISTENTLY as the good ol’ fashioned direct mail program. Before each new fiscal year began, we would meet with the direct mail company, establish our calendar, approve new designs, and set the chairman of the board to his work as chief letter writer and editor. 

Without fail, about a week after the letters went into the mail (all hand-signed by the chairman with a blue pen because it looked more real), checks would start rolling into the office. We would track our appeal rates from previous years and there was a remarkable amount of consistency.

I recognize that over the years, there has been a lull in direct mail marketing and there was a period where people simply weren’t opening their mail. We can thank email and digital marketing for that trend.

However, we can also thank email and digital marketing (and the pandemic) for inundating our inboxes and phones with ads, appeals, impact videos, social media messages, and everything in between. Click and open rates have gone down and unsubscribes appear to be rising. 

In the for-profit world, marketers are planning to increase their direct mail budgets by more than 81% in 2025. (1)

And while that is a lot, I think it presents a unique opportunity for nonprofits to double down on their direct mail efforts. Here’s why.

During the pandemic, I started sending five handwritten notes each week to friends, clients, and family members. I didn’t keep a record, but I think every single person I wrote to responded in some fashion, with most of them sending a quick text or phone call to say they received it. A few even wrote back and we continue that penpal relationship today.

Those letters cut through the digital clutter. People were excited to receive something personal in their mailbox. And for many Millennials and younger, getting something in the mail is a real luxury, because they are so digitally connected. Even with the projected increase in for profit direct marketing, mail volume has decreased in recent years, so your fundraising appeal will face less competition. (2) 

What can you do to make your direct mail appeal stand out even more boldly in the mail? 

• Choosing unique envelope sizes and colors has become much more accessible than the early 2000s when I was sending direct mail. 

• A post card with a QR code that drives someone to your website or a blog might get their attention more quickly than a buried email. 

• And those handwritten notes at the bottom of direct mail letters remind the donor that someone actually signed the letter and took some time to say something nice or inspiring. 

• Don’t abandon your digital channels this year. Make sure everything that you are doing compliments the other. 

• Consider sending an email with an abbreviated version of your direct mail letter about two weeks after the letters have dropped in the mail.

• Promote an impact video on your social media that correlates with your appeal message.

• Send both a digital and USPS acknowledgement letter to your donor.

One last thought: whatever you do, please keep your direct mail appeals to one-page or less. When is the last time you actually read one of those letters that is two, three, or even four pages long? I don’t care how many things are underlined or bulleted, they are just too long. Keep your message clear, concise, and to one page.

Let us know if we can help you with your direct mail and fundraising strategy! We enjoy digging in and thinking creatively to get in front of your donors.

John Mainella

Cape Fletcher Associates

www.CapeFletcher.com

 1 Winterberry Group, Delivering Performance: Direct, Digital, and the Dynamics Shaping the Future of Omnichannel Marketing, 2024

2 Office of the Inspector General USPS, Analysis of Historical Mail Volume Trends, 2024