90 tips that will help you improve your direct marketing program, from retention to conversion to upgrade to prospecting.

1. 0 to 90 in 60
90 direct mail tips
in just 60 minutes!
Leah Eustace, CFRE
@LeahEustace

2. 2
Set the right goal
• Be clear on what
you’re trying to do
with your pyramid
• Stabilize the base
• Grow the base
• Grow the vertical

3. 3
Be realistic about growth
• How ‘sexy’ is your
cause?
• Are you Sick Kids or
the Psoriasis
Foundation?
• Set targets
appropriately!

4. 4
Set long-term direction
• Have a multi-year
(3-5) direction
• Make sure this year’s
plan fits into the
bigger picture

5. 5
Make sure everyone’s
on the same page
• Set expectations
throughout the
organization
• Educate leadership –
both staff & board
• Failure to do this
may upset your
apple cart down the
road!

6. 6
Offer donor choice…
• Number of appeals
• Stewardship options
• E vs. paper receipts,
newsletters etc.
• Phoning okay
Greater choice =
greater loyalty!

7. 7
Integrate channels
• DM was a stand
alone tactic in the
1980s
• Not any more
• Multi-channel world
• Phone, online, face-
to-face
• Seamless baby!

8. 8
Get your data house in order
• Your direct mail program will
only be as successful as your
data allows it to be.
• Invest in proven fundraising
software – and make sure
someone is properly trained to
get the most out of it.

9. 9
Put your year on a spreadsheet
• Mail dates
• Mail types (donor
renewal, prospect
etc.)
• Costs
• Response rates
• Average gift
• Revenue – gross
and net
• Key ratios

10. 10
Make a creative plan
• Themes
• Signatories
• ‘looks’
• Length
• Inserts (if any)
• Info required

11. 11
Make a critical path
for each campaign
• Work dates ‘backwards’
• Include all key milestone
dates
• Work from this document
daily – or put reminders in
your outlook calendar
• If the path is met, the mail
drops on time!

12. 12
Case for Support
• Take the time to write
a powerful case for
support
• We’re amazed at how
many organizations
don’t have one (even
the big guys)
• A solid case saves
time in the long run

13. 13
Line up your people
• Ensure everyone knows
what’s expected of them –
and when it’s expected
• Interviewing signatories
• Lining up suppliers
• Everyone who needs to
sign off

14. 14
Set your evaluation
methods in advance
• What determines
success & failure?
• Driven by strategy
• Key performance
indicators will come
into play (more later!)

15. 15
“Demographics are 2/3
of everything” ~ David Foot
• 83% civic generation
• Born pre-1946
• Also called WW2
Generation
• Grew up before
television
• Older, empty nest
churchgoing woman

16. 16
Meet Jacqueline
• Make sure your
package design, letter
copy speak to her –
and not your
executive director!
• Focus group a letter
with an elderly
neighbour rather than
your communications
staff

17. 17
Carrier envelope
• Only purpose is to be
opened
• Simple often works
best
• Use teasers only
when they contribute

18. 18
Letter
• Purpose of the letter
is to create the
impulse to give
• Stay focused on
purpose

19. 19
Reply coupon
• Purpose is to facilitate
easy giving
• Make it easy to use!
• Don’t get complicated

20. 20
Business reply envelope
• Just make sure you
include one!
• Don’t send your donor
looking for envelopes
and stamps
• Make it easy!

21. 21
Remember that older
eyes prefer…
big
fonts

22. 22
Count your I’s and you’s
• The donor prefers to
read ‘you’ to ‘I’
• Say you twice for
every time you say I

23. 23
Write emotionally
• Human beings are
emotional animals
• We decide on our
emotions
• Strike the right chord
to generate response

24. 24
Our favourite
fundraising maxim
“The institution has
no needs”
It’s all about
connecting the donor
with the beneficiary of
the gift.

25. 25
Take as long as it takes
• Despite what your
boss thinks, long
letters outperform
short ones
• Take as long as it
takes to tell your story

26. 26
It’s direct mail, so
be direct
• Don’t be afraid to ask
• Be as specific as you
can with your ask
• Don’t be afraid to ask
more than once
• Asking is why you’re
writing

27. 27
Focus on benefits –
not features
• A feature describes
• A benefit is an outcome
• Donors want to create
the benefit with their gift
• It’s shorter emergency
room wait times – not an
enhanced intake system

28. 28
Positioning – the battle
for the mind
• What’s your unique
selling proposition?
• If you’re not unique,
you’re
interchangeable

29. 29
Book Tip
“Positioning, the
Battle for the Mind”
By Al Reiss & Jack Trout

30. 30
The success formula
problem
+
solution
+
credibility (yours)
+
ask

31. 31
The offer – the reward
• Donors don’t just give
• It’s an exchange
• Each party gets
something
• For the donor, it’s the
psychic reward
• Talk about that
reward

32. 32
Book Tip
“Influence – the
Psychology of
Persuasion”
By Robert B. Caldiani

33. 33
Don’t crowd
• Short sentences
• Short paragraphs
• Leave lots of white
space
• Make it easy to read

34. 34
Write like you speak
• Your grade four
English teacher would
be furious!
• Incomplete sentences
• Contractions
• Hyphens
• The eyes lead to the
brain – the ears to the
heart!

35. 35
Authentic copy
• Make your letter
sound like it REALLY
comes from the
person who signed it
• Capture the
voice/personality
• Interviews work best

36. 36
Be very careful
Not to use jargon
“enhancing indigenous capacity-
building among community-
based non-governmental
organizations”
or
“helping people help
themselves”

37. 37
Appeal to the senses
People’s
imaginations can
see, smell, taste
touch and hear.

38. 38
Book tip
Made to Stick
is a great book
that will help your
messages both
penetrate and stay
in the donor’s mind.

39. 39
Passion is infectious..
If you show your
passion for the cause,
the donor will be
infected.

40. 40
Ease of reading
• Black type on white
background
• Lots of visual contrast

41. 41
A picture is worth
a thousand words
Photographs amplify
your message

42. 42
Use a serif font
The preferred
font of direct mail
(older) donors

43. 43
Tell great stories
Human beings
communicate by
telling stories

44. 44
Book Tip
“The Story Factor”
By Annette Simmons

45. 45
Key Performance Indicators
Donor Acquisition Cost
• Gross revenue minus
expenditure
• Divided by number of
new donors
• Sector average is $25

46. 46
Conversion rate
• Rate at which first time donors
make a second gift
• Repeat donors divided by
once-only donors
• Sector average is about 35-
40%

47. 47
Conversion Tip
Call new donors
simply to say thanks
and welcome.

48. 48
Conversion Tip
• You don’t get a
second chance to
make a first
impression!
• Get the thank you
letter and tax receipt
mailed within 72
hours.

49. 49
Conversion Tip
Send a welcome kit to
first-time donors

50. 50
Average gift
Gross revenue divided by
number of gifts

51. 51
Gift frequency
• Average number of gifts
per active donor per year
• Total gifts divided by total
number of active donors
• Sector average is about
1.3

52. 52
Renewal rate
• Rate at which active
donors renew their
giving in subsequent
year
• Number of this years
renewers divided by all
last year’s active donors

53. 53
Renewal Tip
You may need to add
another renewal
appeal to your yearly
program to maintain
your renewal rate.

54. 54
Renewal Tip
• Use newsletters to best advantage
• Show money at work
• Show positive results
• Create donor satisfaction before
re-soliciting.

55. 55
Active donor life expectancy
• Average length of time
during which an active
donor will continue to give
every year
• Function of renewal rate
• Refer to CMA handbook

56. 56
Repeat donor investment
Donor acquisition cost
divided by conversion
rate

57. 57
Lifetime value - gross
• Total revenue you’d
expect from an active
donor before she lapses
• Average gift x gift
frequency x life
expectancy

58. 58
Revenue to cost ratio
• Key measurement of
efficiency
• Compares costs to
revenues
• Total revenue divided by
total cost

59. 59
Lifetime value - net
• True return on new
donor investment
• Gross return minus
costs
• Gross lifetime value
divided by the left
number in the revenue
to cost ratio

60. 60
Production
• Tender elements of
production process to
a number of suppliers
• Give them the specs
and hold an auction
• Keep them competing
for your business

61. 61
Communicate with
suppliers after the fact
• Give them feedback
on what you were
pleased and
displeased with
• Little rewards can go
a long way next time

62. 62
You can save some money..
• If you order a year’s
worth of business
reply envelopes all at
once
• Some suppliers will
even store them for
you

63. 63
Guinea pig?
• Sometimes a supplier
will give you a big
discount if you’ll test
drive a new product
or service
• Hand addressing for a
nickel

64. 64
Using photos
• Photos can certainly
enhance your story
and make your ask
more compelling
• But no photo is better
than a bad one
• Make sure you use
high resolution photos
with lots of contrast

65. 65
Get thank you letters
and receipts out quickly!
It shows appreciation
– and – that you’re
organized.

66. 66
Create a segmented
fulfillment grid
• Create ‘categories’ of
thank you tactics
• Simple form letters to
smaller gifts
• Personalized notes
and/or phone calls to
more generous gifts
• Use board members
to call if you can!

67. 67
Upsell
The thank you letter is a
wonderful opportunity to
talk about upgraded giving.

68. 68
Donors are starving to see
• Their dollars at
work
• Talk about how
you’re using their
gift

69. 69
Test in each mailing!
• Lists – acquisition
• Personalization
• Packages
• Carrier envelopes
• Reply devices
• The list is endless!

70. 70
Book Tip
“Revolution in the
Mailbox”
By Mal Warwick

71. 71
Segment mailings
Gift size and recency
are a great help to
planning and
measuring your
campaigns.

72. 72
Acquisition best practice
• Always test a new
package against your
control package
• You do have a control
package don’t you?

73. 73
Donor engagement
• Donor surveys are a
great way to engage
– and get valuable
information
• We often use them
with January renewal
mail campaigns

74. 74
Donor engagement
• Can you connect your
donor directly to the
recipient of the gift?
• Why do you think
child sponsorship
programs are so
successful?

75. 75
Monthly donor conversion
• Have a plan for
monthly donor
conversion
• Monthly donor lifetime
value four times
greater

76. 76
Set a target..
Most organizations
can convert 5% to
10% of their donors to
monthly if they do it
right.

77. Get on the telephone
77
Mail and phone
work best to
convert donors to
monthly.

78. 78
Best monthly
prospects include
• Multi-donors
• Credit card donors

79. Follow up
79
• Make sure you
follow up on
expired credit
cards

80. 80
Make a communications plan
• For your monthly donors
• Don’t just take their money
• Keep informing them of how
you’re putting their money to
work
• Keep saying thanks

81. Upgrade
81
Ask monthly donors to
increase their monthly
gift after two to three
years –
But
Give them a good
reason to!

82. 82
Monthly Giving - Book Tip
“Hidden Gold”
By Harvey McKinnon

83. 83
It’s time to start
a mid-level giving program
• 17% of your direct
mail donors have
made single gifts of
$500 or more to
charity
• You want a share of
that market
• Make a plan – and
execute it

84. 84
Two keys for success
• Make the offer as
specific as possible
(quasi-designated if
you will)
• Promise added value
re: stewardship

85. 85
The legacy gift gold mine
• One-third of your
direct mail donors
have either left a
charitable bequest or
are considering one
• This money will
overtake DM
revenues in 8-10
years

86. 86
Integrate!
• Mail both annual
giving appeals with
legacy mailings
throughout the year.
• Take the time to bring
the silos down

87. 87
Use a synergy
• Of major gift strategy
and direct mail tactics
• Take the time to
cultivate (at least a
year)
• Ask appropriately

88. 88
Best legacy
prospects include
• “Miss”
• Loyal
• Monthly (mail or
phone sourced)
• Large single gift

89. 89
Your direct mail donors
are open to being cultivated
• But they want to hear
from you by mail
• Don’t phone or visit
• Let them control the
relationship
• They don’t want to
feel pressured!

90. 90
Best cultivation packages
• Testimonial from a
living donor
• Vision piece from
CEO
• Legacy-specific
newsletter
• Testimonial from
surviving loved one

91. 91
Book Tip
“Iceberg Philanthropy”
By us!

92. 92
Whew! I’m done!
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