Direct mail is alive and kicking
Before you throw the direct mail baby out of the fundraising bath and invest all your budget in social media or face to face, remember that mail is still the bedrock of most charities’ individual income streams.
Two years ago I started working with one charity client to increase the income from their direct mail programme. It was just about the time when the sector was jumping up and down about social media and you couldn’t move for seminars and workshops on ‘the next big thing’. There is a real temptation to lose focus here. The massive increase in the number of so-called social media consultants and digital marketing consultants is not a guide as to how to spend your fundraising budget. It is an additional channel not a replacement one.
In the meantime, direct mail is alive and well. We have seen our clients achieve annualised increases of 15% income growth and more on their direct mail – with careful planning and by focusing on loyalty this is all possible. And you don’t need to be a large brand to achieve this either. There are some charities that are blaming a downturn in mail income on the recession and on the economic climate. But it is possible to find new donors, cultivate them and do so at a profit, even in these hard times. Direct mail is alive and doing well.
