How to successfully fundraise using direct mail

According to the recent Giving Trends and Predictions report, fundraising costs are one of the top challenges that charities and not for profits face. On the other hand, direct mail is the third most successful way to fundraise for a cause. So is there a way to have your cake and eat it too?

Well, the answer is yes. We have a few little tips that every not for profit needs to know about fundraising using mail. These tips will help you keep your campaign costs down, your engagement rate up and give you that amazing ROI that your CEO loves. So let’s get started.

1. Stop paying full price for your mail. 

Firstly, stop paying full rate for your mail. As a charity you can access discounted postal rates known as charity mail. Just apply for your charity mail number on theAus Post website with your Notice of Endorsement, or we can apply for you.

Charity mail has some restrictions which include –

• The total quantity has to be over 300 mail pieces
• The mail piece has to be under 125g
• The dimensions of the mail piece has to be smaller than 130x240mm
• The maximum thickness of your mail piece is 5mm

All charity mail has to have a DPID barcode which means you will need to engage a mailing house to sort and barcode your mail for you. For more information visit direct mail page.

2. Direct mail is direct! Don’t waste an opportunity to speak personally with supporters.

Secondly, unlike TV, outdoor or print advertising, direct mail gives you the opportunity to get personal with your supporters. Leverage your customer base data to create a campaign that really speaks to them and acknowledges what stage of the customer life cycle they are in. The messages and content that you provide to a new donator should be different from a long term donator. This is easily done with variable data printing and is cost efficient.

Don’t be boring, be engaging. The campaigns success will rely on if supporters take action, so make it easy for them. Create easy to read documents with headings, subheading and bold text. Avoid blocks of text and long winded information, be straight to the point. Engage your reader before they even open the envelope by including a message on the front. With new technology messages on the front of envelopes can be personalised and in full colour. 

3. Keep your costs down and stay smart. 

Last but not least, money! Keeping your campaign costs low will help push up ROI. Make sure you take into consideration the end product when planning your campaign, such as the charity mail restrictions we mentioned earlier. You can keep your costs low by

• Compromising – Full colour envelopes would be an extra costs, so minimise costs elsewhere by using a bond stock paper or keeping your letter black and white.
• Plan ahead and know what you want – Speak to your printer and your mail house before you commit to the campaign specs. They will be able to suggest more ways to make your campaign cost efficient. Make sure all your copy, artwork and data are finalised before you send it to print, this will avoid extra set up costs.
• Use window faced envelopes – This will drop the need to match an address on the envelope to the name on the letter.
• Use B11 reply paid envelopes – If your are including a reply paid envelope, use a B11 which is the smallest size available.
• Think about what’s inside – If you campaign contains an odd shaped item that a machine won’t be able to handle, it will need to be manually inserted. Take this extra cost into consideration when planning your campaign.

Keep these 3 points in mind next time you plan a direct mail campaign and you will not only be able to make it cheaper, but also more effective.

Are you already planning your next fundraising campaign? Talk to us today to ensure your campaign will be as cost efficient as possible.