Direct Mail Acquisition
Direct mail acquisition
Despite the increasing popularity
of digital fundraising channels,
direct mail acquisition is still the
main driver of new donor
acquisition at most organizations.
A healthy acquisition program is
essential for a successful and
growing nonprofit organization.
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Benefits of direct mail acquisition
• Offsets lapsing donor pool. Every year, you will have
donors who gave last year, but not this year. Acquiring
new donors helps offset this loss.
• Grows your donor base. It’s important to grow your
donor base year after year so you can meet increasing
program and other organizational needs.
• Supports donor pipeline growth. Acquisition helps you
acquire new donors of varying gift capacities, some of
whom will eventually make a major gift or planned gift.
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Acquisition is an investment
Generally speaking, it costs more money to acquire a
new donor than it does to keep an existing donor, or
reactivate a lapsed donor. Initially, you will spend more on
acquisition than you make back in donations. It pays off
over time as new donors give additional and larger gifts.
You are investing in these new donors in hopes that they
will give additional gifts and, over time, larger gifts.
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Response rates
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Acquisition response rates are usually
very low (around 1% or less).
Your goal is to obtain new donors,
not necessarily obtain a good
fundraising ratio. Response rates are
important, however, when it comes
to measuring package test results.
(More on that later.)
A note about retention
Industry standard donor retention rate = 46%*
This means 54% of donors who gave last year will not give
again this year. This is the donor attrition rate.
*Source: 2017 Fundraising Effectiveness Survey Report from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project
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Get lapsed donors
to give again
Acquisition
Donor renewal
program
It’s important to get that second
gift from your new donors within
their first year. It’s much harder
(and more expensive) to get
them to reactivate than to renew.
Acquisition, lapsed and renewal
mailings all work together to
prevent your bucket from being
too “leaky.”
A case study
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In 2013, the American Cancer Society suspended its direct-mail acquisition
program during a time of restructuring and transition. It was relaunched a
year and a half later.
During the first year, there was an 11% decline in new donors, and an
$11.3 million decrease in new donor revenue.
It is projected that the hiatus will have a $29.5 million impact over the first
5 years. It also had an impact on retention rates the following year.
Source: thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/live-from-dma-direct-mail-hiatus-cost-acs-30-million/
Where do you find new donors?
Work with a list broker! They are experts in new donor acquisition
and can help develop a strategy that works for your organizational
needs and budget.
Working with the list broker, you will rent lists of donors from
other nonprofits. Commercial lists are available from catalogs,
magazines, online stores, and other sources. You also have the
option to exchange your list, which saves on list costs.
The goal is to rent lists of people who look like or are similar to
your existing donors, in order to maximize the likelihood that they
will respond.
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More on lists
It’s standard practice for many nonprofits to
exchange lists. Some organizations choose not to
(Best Friends is one).
If you choose to exchange your list, you should have
an option for your donors to opt out of having their
information shared.
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Warm prospects
Dig into your existing non-donor contacts and target in
acquisition as warm prospects:
• Volunteers
• Adopters and foster families
• Email subscribers for whom you have mailing addresses
• Advocacy supporters
• Event attendees
You can also ask existing donors to recruit friends.
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Industry resources
Data & Marketing Association (DMA)
Your list broker and mail house should utilize the DMA suppression list
and run it against your acquisition mail files. The DMA suppression list
is a list of consumers who no longer wish to receive mail.
Consumers and donors have a few options to manage their mail
communication preferences across many nonprofits and companies.
We encourage you to share this information with donors and prospects
who are unhappy with the mail they’re receiving.
• DMA: dmachoice.thedma.org
• Abacus/Epsilon (data cooperative): email optout@epsilon.com
• Wiland (data cooperative): wiland.com/advertising-choices
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Lapsed donors
Many organizations mail their lapsed donors as part of their
acquisition program. You can target lapsed donors with messaging
that lets them know you miss them, and that asks them to renew
their commitment.
A lot of lapsed donors actually think they gave within the last year.
You can gently remind them of when they last gave. They’re often
surprised it’s been so long, and appreciate the reminder.
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Acquisition packages
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Thoughtful and compelling direct-mail acquisition packages are
essential. For most of these prospects, it will be the first time
they’ve heard of you, so you need to make a strong case for why
your organization needs their support.
How do you determine which package is compelling? By testing,
of course. Lots of testing!
Through testing, you will find your control packages, which are
the packages that garner the best responses (and cost to acquire)
over many tests. It’s important to test your control packages from
time to time to ensure that they are still your best packages.
Acquisition packages: Tests
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There are many different techniques you can test:
• Different ask amounts
• Colored envelope vs. plain envelope
• Premium vs. no premium
• Stories about different animals, different species
• Faux stamps, faux return address labels
• Full-color letter with images vs. plain letter
• Different teasers for the outside envelope
• Faux kraft (brown) envelopes
• And much, much more!
You will be surprised which techniques lift the response rate. Certain lists will
respond better to certain messages or techniques.
After they join
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The first year after a new donor joins is very important. Do your best to
foster a positive relationship with your new donors, and build that
relationship over time.
• Quickly acknowledge their gift(s).
• Recruit volunteers to make thank-you calls.
• Send a welcome kit.
• Collect actionable information by including a response device in the
welcome kit. Learn about donors’ species or program interests.
• Collect their email addresses so you can engage with them online.
• Communicate the impact of their giving in future communications.
• Be sure to ask them to renew their gift before the first year is up.
