Mail Superiority: How to Run a Profitable Annual Direct Mail Fundraising Program.

Learn the proven, step-by-step process for raising funds and friends cost effectively, year after year.

And yet direct mail fundraising remains one of the most cost-effective ways to raise funds. Many non-profit organizations depend on the mail for over 50% of their contributed income each year.

Over the years, successful direct mail fundraisers have discovered that the route to results lies in following some time-tested principles. You'll learn them in this book . . .

• how direct mail fundraising works
• why you should plan to lose money on your acquisition mailings (and why your board shouldn't mind)
• four goals of every renewal fundraising letter
• response rates, net profit, cost to raise a dollar and other vital signs of your success
• key steps you must follow every year to retain donors
• why donors give—and what makes them stop

Peek inside the e-book

Learn the insider secrets of running a profitable direct mail fundraising letter program

How can you raise money with direct mail when you never seem to have enough hours in your day—or money in your budget—to do the job properly? You need a plan. A step-by-step plan that helps you save time, reduce costs and still meet your fundraising goals.

In Mail Superiority: How to Run a Profitable Annual Direct Mail Fundraising Program, you'll learn the tested methods that leading charities use to raise money through the mail. You'll learn the mistakes to avoid, the best practices to implement today, and the tips, techniques and shortcuts that you can use for years to come.

Table of Contents

PART ONE
Why Direct Mail Fundraising is So Powerful

1. Why You Must Master Direct Mail Fundraising 4

Eighty percent of your income comes from individuals
Most individual donors start with a small gift
Direct mail is expensive
Direct mail is difficult

2. Three Goals of Direct Mail Fundraising 6

Goal #1: Acquire new donors each year
Goal #2: Renew your donors each year
Goal #3: Upgrade your donors

3. How a Direct Mail Fundraising Program Works 10

DM fundraising is a program, not a series of mailings
Runs for 12 months
Repeats every 12 Months
Characterized by incremental improvements from testing
Works by building a broad base of support

4. What You Need to Succeed in Direct Mail Fundraising 18

You need a case for support with broad appeal
You need new donors you can reach cost-effectively
You need dedicated fundraising software 
You need an obsession with your data
You need a dedicated team
You need a commitment to donor-centered fundraising
You need a commitment to brand differentiation
You need a commitment to segmentation
You need frequency and volume
You need a commitment that lasts for decades

5. Fourteen Reasons Strangers Respond to DM Acquisition Letters 31

Reason # 1: They hunt for meaning in life
Reason # 2: They want to meet an immediate need
Reason # 3: They want to receive a personal benefit
Reason # 4: They want to join others in a worthy cause
Reason # 5: They want to achieve status
Reason # 6: They are angry
Reason # 7: They are altruistic
Reason # 8: They are idealistic
Reason # 9: They give for religious reasons
Reason # 10: They give to solve a problem
Reason # 11: They give to save on taxes
Reason # 12: They give to achieve immortality
Reason # 13: They give to reduce guilt
Reason # 14: They give because they’re fearful

PART TWO
How to Acquire New Donors with Direct Mail 36

6. How Direct Mail Donor Acquisition Works 37

Direct mail donor acquisition loses money initially
DM donor acquisition needs a popular cause to succeed
DM donor acquisition needs volume to succeed
DM donor acquisition needs other mailings to succeed
Four tests to see if DM donor acquisition is right for you

7. Eight Steps for Acquiring Donors with Direct Mail 44

Step #1: Develop your case for support
Step #2: Clone your best donors
Step #3: Find the names of potential donors
Step #4: Create a package
Step #5: Test the package against your lists
Step #6: Rollout
Step #7: Follow up with new donors
Step #8: Measure your results

8. How to Get the Most from Direct Mail Donor Acquisition 60

Mistakes to avoid
Why donors stop responding to direct mail appeals
How donor acquisition integrates with annual campaigns Easy ways to reduce donor attrition rates
Save money on DM acquisition mailings through testing

9. How Donor Acquisition Mailings Differ from Donor
Renewal Mailings 66

PART THREE
Anatomy of a Donor Acquisition Package 70

10. Anatomy of a Donor Acquisition Package 70

Outer envelope
Letter
Brochure
Reply device
Survey
Reply envelope

PART FOUR
How to Renew Your Donors with Direct Mail 110

12. Why You Must Renew Your Donors 112

Avoid donors who never renew
Donors demand three things before they give again

13. Thank-you Letters, Cards and Notes 118

Four reasons you must mail thank-you letters, cards
and notes
Thank your donors using the four P’s
Anatomy of an effective thank-you letter

14. Before You Ask Again, W-I-N Them 129

Welcome your donors
Involve your donors
Give your donors News

15. Use Newsletters to Boost Donor Loyalty 136

Nine common donor newsletter mistakes to avoid 137

16. How to Craft Fundraising Letters that Renew Donors 141

Four goals of renewal letters
Mail a series of renewal appeals
Think friends, not funds
Treat donor groups differently
Treat high, medium and low donors differently
Spend time and money on your most promising donors
Think recency, frequency and monetary value

PART FIVE
Testing, Tracking and Analyzing with Confidence 170

17. Your Data Never Lies (but it Misleads if You Let it) 152

18. Testing Your Donor Acquisition Package 156

Goal #1: Test as many lists as possible
Goal #2: Acquire as many donors as possible
Goal #3: Recover your costs
Goal #4: Discover which package performs best
Goal #5: Discover if direct mail is a cost effective way
for your organization to acquire donors
Create your test package
Choose lists to test
How to budget for a typical mailing

19. Tracking Your Results 163

Rule #1: Test things that are significant
Rule #2: Test things you can control
Rule #3: Make your test large enough to be significant
Rule #4: Test one thing at a time
Rule #5: Don’t let large gifts skew your results
Rule #6: Acquire loyal donors in greatest numbers
at lowest cost
Rule #7: If starting out, acquire as many donors as
possible
Rule #8: Test every time you mail
Test prospect lists
Test the size of the initial gift in your ask string
Test premiums, front and back end
Test involvement devices
Test outer envelopes
Test personalization
Test the length of your letters
Test new packages 168Avoid these mistakes

20. Analyzing with Confidence 170

#1: Cost per thousand
#2: Cost per piece
#3: Response count
#4: Response rate
#5: Gross income
#6: Net Income
#7: Average gift
#8: Average cost per gift
#9: Return on your investment
#10: Cost to raise a dollar
#11: Cost to acquire a donor
#12: Net income per thousand pieces
#13: Renewal rate
#14: Attrition rate
#15: Donor loyalty
Direct Mail Fundraising Return On Investment

21. Response Rates to Expect in Direct Mail Fundraising 185

22. Ask Early, Ask Of ten, Ask the Right Way 190

23. What Should You Mail? 196

Acquisition letters
Newsletters
Renewal letters
Major donor letters
Lapsed donor recovery letters
Special appeals

24. How to Plan a Typical Mailing 208

Working backwards from your drop date

PART SEVEN
Keys to Your Success 212

25. Divide and Conquer 214

Segmentation
Concentrate on your best donors

26. Build Your List Three Ways 218

Method #1: Build Your List Yourself
Method #2: Rent A List From Someone Else
Method #3: Use A List Broker To Create A Custom List

27. How List Brokers Can Help Your Appeal 220

A typical list rental transaction

28. How to Upgrade Your Donors Over Time 222

29. Increase Your Average Fundraising Gift By Segmenting
Your File 224

30. Improve Donor Tenure and You’ll Boost Revenue 226

Learn from the for-profit world

31. Answers to Common Questions 228

Q. How many times a year should I mail my donors?
Q. When should we drop people them from our list?
Q. How can we save money with donors who don't give?

32. 41 Things You Can Mail to Your Donors 231

33. A Helpful List of DM Fundraising List Brokers and Managers 235

Glossary of Direct Mail Fundraising Terms 237

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