Pushing the Envelope: Proven tactics for raising more money with direct mail fundraising letters

By Alan Sharpe (November, 2011) E-book $19.99  Paperback $29.99
The only number that matters in direct mail fundraising is net revenue. Net revenue is the only money you can do mission with. The more net revenue you have, the more good you can do in the world.

Pushing the Envelope helps your non-profit organization raise more net revenue using direct mail fundraising. Alan Sharpe shows you how to acquire more donors, boost response rates, increase the size of your average gift, hang onto your donors longer, increase your revenue while lowering your costs, and plenty more.

Pushing the Envelope is an exclusive compilation of Alan’s best newsletter articles from over six years, compiled into convenient chapters. The book features a Table of Contents and helpful index. Read this book and put its tested advice into practice. You’ll raise more money, and do more good with it to change the world.

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Table of Contents

PART ONE Start with the Basics

1. Annual Doesn’t Mean Annually in Direct Mail Fundraising 2

2. Direct Mail Fundraising Needs a Strong Case for Support 4

• Be Compelling 5
• Be Credible 5
• Be Clear 5

3. Questions to Ask Before You Ask Anyone for a Donation 7

• Who are you writing to? 8
• Why are you writing? 9
• What do you want your readers to do? 10

PART TWO Boost Your Response Rates

4. Boost Response by Not Including a Reply Envelope 14

5. Boost Your Response Rates Three Ways 16

1. Offer more than a reply device 16
2. Keep donors and members informed and motivated 17
3. Write a longer letter 18

6. Boost Your Response Rates with Deadlines 19

• Use a date, not a time period 20
• Give a valid reason for your deadline 20
• Repeat your deadline anywhere you ask for a gift 20
• Don’t mistake your deadline for your case for support 21

7. Year-End Appeals: 7 Tips to Give Them a Boost 22

• 1. Keep it simple 22
• 2. Be creative 23.
• 3. Look back with thanksgiving 23
• 4. Look ahead with anticipation 24
• 5. Use a seasonal theme 24
• 6. Accentuate the positive 24
• 7. A special word for Christian charities 24

8. Boost Response Rates to Your Special Event Invitations 26

• Seminars 26
• Fundraising Banquets 27
• Awards Shows 27
• Best Practices 27

9. Boost Response Rates by Making Responding Convenient 29

• Reply Device 30
• Reply Envelope 30
• Tear-Out Coupons 30
• Payment 30

10. Lift Fundraising Letter Response Rates with Lift Notes 32

11. Stamps Boost Response Rates (Usually) 34

• Metered postage 35
• Postal indicia 35
• Stamps 36

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PART THREE Raise More Money

12. Mail Often Enough to Prove Friends Stay in Touch 38

13. How to Increase the Size of Gifts 41

• Ask for specific amounts 41
• Increase the size of your smallest suggested donation 41
• Circle the desired donation 42
• Ask based on each donor’s giving history 42
• Mail special appeals to major donors 43
• Upgrade donors each year to cover inflation 43
• Reduce your expenses 43

14. Boost Your Net Income by Mailing Fewer Appeal Letters 44

15. Eight List Segmentation Tips 47

1. Individuals, foundations and businesses 47
2. Members and non-members 47
3. Donors and non-donors 47
4. Active donors, lapsed donors and former donors 48
5. Annual donors and monthly donors 48
6. Major donors and non-major donors 48
7. Asking versus informing 48
8. Personal and donor-centred 49

16. Boost Response Rates with Five Simple Segmentations 50

• New donors 51
• Current donors 51
• Lapsed donors 51
• Monthly donors 52
• Giving-circle donors 52

17. Improve Personalization Results with Detective Work 54

• Name 55
• Address 55
• Date of Birth 55

18. Boost Net Revenue by Mailing Less to Those Giving Less 57

PART FOUR Test to Discover What Works

19. Prevent Costly Acquisition Blunders with Test Mailings 62

• Test Your Lists 63
• Test Your Creative 63

20. Count Your Donors and Your Dollars 65

• First-time donor conversion rate 66
• Renewal rate 66
• Attrition rate 66

21. Predict Your Direct Mail Success with Doubling Day 67

• Delays in mail delivery 69
• Class of mail 69
• Unusually large gifts in previous campaigns 69
• Contents of the direct mail package 69
• Time of year 70

22. When to Ignore Your Direct Mail Test Results 71

• When charities are in different sectors 71
• When the test results are old 72
• When your sample size is too small 73

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PART FIVE Measure Your Success Correctly

23. Know Your Six Fundraising Numbers or Die 76

1. Net Annual Growth in Active Donors 76
2. Net Cost Per Donor Acquired 77
3. Attrition Rate by Channel 77
4. Renewal Rate by Channel 77
5. Second Gift Conversion Rate 78
6. Lifetime Donor Value by Channel 78

24. Measure Your Success with Four Numbers 79

• Pieces Mailed 80
• Total Gifts 80
• Total Cost 80
• Gross Income 80

25. Five Vital Signs of a Healthy Direct Mail Program 82

• Vital Sign #1: Your donor file. It’s growing. 82
• Vital Sign #2: Your friends. They are loyal 83
• Vital Sign #3: Your numbers. You know them. 83
• Vital Sign #4: Your testing. It’s thorough. 83
• Vital Sign #5: Your donors. You treat them differently. 84

26. Don’t Measure Fundraising Costs, But Cost-Effectiveness 86

27. You Must Spend Money to Raise Money 89

28. Boost Response Rates by Watching Nine Vital Statistics 92

1. Response rate 93
2. Average gift 93
3. Average cost per gift 93
4. Return on investment 93
5. Cost to raise a dollar 93
6. Conversion rate 94
7. Renewal rate 94
8. Attrition rate 94
9. CPM (Cost Per Thousand) 94

29. Four Fundraising Benchmarks You Must Monitor 95

1. Gross Donated Revenue by Channel 96
2. Average Gift by Channel 96
3. Total Donors Acquired, by Channel 97
4. Attrition Rate by Channel 97

30. Avoid Blunders by Knowing Your Numbers 98

• Two is better than one 99
• Look beyond today’s numbers 100

PART SIX Hang Onto Your Donors Longer

31. Why You Will Lose Donors Today, Guaranteed 104

1. Donors die 105
2. Donors lose their jobs 105
3. Donors move 105
4. Donors’ credit cards are declined 105
5. Donors retire 106
6. Donors grow infirm 106
7. Some donors intend to give only one gift 106

32. Reduce Direct Mail Donor Attrition in Four Ways 108

1. Thank donors promptly for every gift 108
2. Show donors how their gifts are changing the world 109
3. Balance informing with asking 109
4. Acquire donors who are most likely to remain loyal 109

33. How Many of your Appeals Does the Post Office Trash? 110

• The two primary causes of undeliverable mail 111
• Other reasons for undeliverability 111
• Christensen Study of undeliverable mail 113
• How errors creep into your database 113

34. Is Your Returned Mail Costing You $481 a Piece? 115

35. Reduce Undeliverable Appeals Before Donors Move 118

36. Reduce Direct Mail Costs and Attrition with NCOA 120

37. Reach Donors Who Have Moved and Not Told You 123

• NCOALink 123
• Canadian National Change of Address file 125
• Benefits of using the NCOA service 126
• Change of Address Plus (COA+) 127
• Multi-source Change-of-Address (MCOA) 128

38. Four Common Database Mistakes that Derail Mailings 130

1. Outdated prefixes 130
2. C/O names in the Address field 131
3. One-character salutations 132
4. Foreign addresses not flagged as such 132

39. How to Help Your Lettershop Bungle Your Campaign 134

1. Give the lettershop irrelevant data 134
2. Supply your data file with no field headings 135
3. Give data fields and merge fields different names 135
4. Give your data file a no-name name 135

40. Check if Phone Numbers on Cheques are in Database 136

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PART SEVEN Thank Your Donors

41. How to Write a Donation Thank-you Letter 141

• Be personal 141
• Say thank you, thank you, thank you 141
• Be specific if possible 141
• Show how the donor’s gift is being successful 142
• Thank the supporter, not the donor 142
• Encourage dialogue 142
• Be soft in asking for more funds 142
• Strive for originality 143
• An example of a successful thank-you letter 143

42. Make Your Donor The Hero 145

• How to make the donor the hero 146
• A sample thank-you letter 146

43. Send Donation Thank-You Letters Quickly 149

• A word about thanking major donors 150

44. Sample Donation Thank-You Letter 152

45. Thank-You Letter Mistakes To Avoid 155

• Mistake #1: “Dear Friend” 155
• Mistake #2: “We are in receipt of your gift” 156
• Mistake #3: Asking for another gift 156
• Mistake #4: Too late 156

46. Eight Ways to Wreck Your Thank-You Letters 158

1. Be impersonal 158
2. Don’t say thank you 158
3. Be general rather than specific 158
4. Don’t show how a donor’s gift is making a difference 159
5. Be thankful for the donation, not the donor 159
6. Make your thank-you letter a memo from head office 159
7. Always ask for another gift 160
8. Strive for banality 160

47. Should a Thank-You Letter Ever Ask for a Donation? 161

48. Does Asking for a Gift in a Thank-You Letter Do Harm? 163

• Test and find out 164
• Measure Second Gift Conversion Rate 165
• Measure Number of Gifts Per Year 165
• Measure Gross Revenue 165
• Measure Gross Revenue Per Donor 165
• Measure Attrition Rate 165
• Measure Lifetime Value 165

Glossary of Direct Mail Fundraising Terms 166

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Browse the index

Product Details

Format: Available as an e-book (immediate download) and as a paperback (we ship it to you)

Pages: 186

Publisher: Andrew Spencer Publishing

Language: English

ISBN: 978-0-9784053-7-3

Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 inches

SKU: sharpe033

Option 1: Buy the e-book for $19.99

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