Facebook, My Space, Second Life and other social media are fast becoming the "hip" way for nonprofits to communicate their message to a broad range of donors. Most of the options for fundraising are inexpensive, if not free, and they are cutting edge. They are exciting. And they are completely unproven.
This is not to say that they are not worth pursuing. They are very worthy, indeed. In fact, I'll be writing about how to use social media for fundraising, and I hope you'll visit to learn all about it. But these methods simply should not form the core of your organization's fundraising efforts.
Direct Mail has been taken through the wringer. It has proven itself time and again to be a faithful vehicle for communication between donors and nonprofit organizations. But to be effective, it must be done right. And in today's world of electronic media, fewer and fewer people know how to use paper the right way.
There are a few basic things you need to know before using the Post Office to deliver your appeal to donors, not the least of which is what to include. The pieces are very simple, really:
- Carrier: (aka OE) This is what everything fits into. The most standard carrier is a #10 business envelope, but you can get really creative. We'll offer more ideas in future posts.
- Appeal letter: 2-4 pages (longer letters typically bring in a higher response and larger average gift)
- Reply device: This is almost as important as the letter itself. The reply device is usually 1/3 the size of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, or 8.5 x 3.67 inches. The format varies widely, but the 3-up design is the most economical and works well.
- Reply envelope: (aka RE) The front should feature your logo and the address where you want the donation sent. A bar code at the bottom is a kindness to the Post Office and helps ensure that your replies are delivered quickly. If you use the 3-up design mentioned above, a #9 envelope will work perfectly for this job. And it fits snugly inside the #10. Visit next week to see the anatomy of a reply envelope and download your own free sample.
Of course, if you include all the right pieces but write a bad letter, you won't get very far with your donors. To learn more about how to write a good appeal, check out our series on this:
You can also view some sample fundraising letters from us.
Want to talk more about appeals? Contact us today.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
