Five Vital Signs of a Healthy Direct Mail Fundraising Program

By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
I spent last night visiting two hospitals with my four-year-old son, Spencer. I noticed that the staff at each hospital took the same vital signs (pulse, oxygen saturation, temperature, breathing) to determine Spencer’s health. Nurses and doctors miles apart, working for different hospitals, on different shifts, knew the same things to look for to determine the health of their patient.

You must do the same with your direct mail fundraising program. Here are the five vital signs to watch for to make sure your program is healthy, and remains healthy.

Vital Sign #1: Your donor file. It’s growing.
Death is unavoidable, even in fundraising. Friends die. A healthy direct mail program includes multiple donor acquisition mailings each year to replace donors who die or otherwise “lapse,” and to grow the donor file even further so there is a net gain in new supporters yearly.

Vital Sign #2: Your friends. They are loyal.
Experienced annual giving officers know that the main goal of fundraising letters is not to raise money but to retain donors. Make friends for life and they will donate. A robust direct response fundraising program aims to keep as many donors as possible, and avoids methods (sweepstakes and premiums, for example) that attract too many short-term donors. A well-run program mails original, personal, heart-felt thank-you letters for every gift within 24 hours, and mails newsletters to keep donors informed about how their gifts are changing the world.

Vital Sign #3: Your numbers. You know them.
Successful directors of development know that you can only manage what you can measure. And the beauty of direct mail is that you can measure just about everything. What is your attrition rate? What is your cost to raise a dollar? What is your cost per piece? If you’re watching your numbers, you know the answers.

Vital Sign #4: Your testing. It’s thorough.
Arrive at the emergency department with a high temperature and the nurse will likely give you something for it, such as Tylenol. Medical staff don’t simply measure your vital signs and chart them. They take remedial action. If you’re running a healthy direct mail program, you are doing the same, through testing.

Which of those 11 lists generated the highest response and highest average gift at the lowest cost? Which package generated the highest response, the package with the brochure or the one without? Which ask generated the highest average gift, the one for the new kitchen or the one for the new mothers? If you are testing your lists, your creative and your cases for support, you aren’t going with your gut anymore. And your program is healthier for it.

Vital Sign #5: Your donors. You treat them differently.
Arrive at the hospital pregnant, they take you to obstetrics. Arrive broken, they take you to orthopedics. A hospital treats its patients according to the patients’ needs, not the hospital’s. A healthy direct mail fundraising program does likewise. It solicits and respects the goals, desires and wishes of its donors.

Those who want to give monthly, can. Those who want an annual receipt, get it. Those who want to receive updates on your work in Darfur by email, not by mail, get them. Those who supported your new initiative with a $2,000 gift are delighted that your subsequent appeals cover the same need, acknowledge their support of that need, and speak to them as a partner and not as a paycheck.

One advantage to raising money through the mail is that you don’t have to wait until you see signs of sickness before you seek treatment and watch your health improve. Because direct mail is testable, and because others have gone before you, you can avoid plenty of the maladies that have felled perfectly worthy causes. Watch these five vital signs and you should avoid the emergency department.

Handbook Number 9 31 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Ask Anyone for a Donation with a Fundraising Letter. Increase your chances of success by answering the vital questions that leading fundraisers ask themselves before writing a single word.

Handbook Number 10 Six Insider Secrets of Running a Profitable Annual Fundraising Letter Program. Proven techniques from the professionals for building long-term relationships with your donors and members.

Handbook Number 22 How to Recover Your Lapsed Direct Mail Donors. Discover the financial rewards, savings and long-term benefits of wooing and winning your donors all over again using direct mail.