One of our partners at AmPhil, NextAfter, shared results from a recent study examining email and direct mail outreach. The study was designed to address an oft-asked question: is it more fruitful to send donors an email or a piece of mail?
The results show it’s best to send both an email and direct mail to your prospective donor. Donors who received a mail appeal and an email ask had a 60.5% higher response rate than those who received just a mail appeal. Donors who received an email ask alone were 90.6% percent less likely to respond than those who received just a mail appeal.
The moral of the study is that donors appreciate hearing from and getting involved with an aligned organization through multiple channels (whether or not they’re current donors). Multiple means of contact lead to deeper relationships and more successful fundraising.
When it comes to employing multiple communication channels, your organization may be at a loss. Here are three helpful tips to get you started on integrating your digital and direct mail communications.
1) Get your story straight
As you integrate your donor communication methods, it’s essential to keep your messaging consistent. By telling one story about your organization, your channels will reinforce one another. When you send a direct mail package, follow it up with an email, create social media posts that echo the mailing, and ensure your website is aligned with this messaging. Clarity and consistency are essential.
2) Record your results
When contacting your donors using different channels, you should track how your donors react to the different methods. The better you understand each donor’s preferred method of communication, the more effective your outreach will be.
Landing pages are a powerful tool for determining channel efficacy. By matching each email appeal and social media campaign with a unique landing page, you’ll be able to scrutinize your outreach at a minute level. Use your CRM and other software to track and store this information for future use.
3) Pace yourself—up to a point
The pace of your donor outreach is a delicate balancing act. You don’t want to neglect your audience; neither do you want to subject them to a barrage of communications. Beware a common piece of advice: “communicating too much will hurt the donor relationship.” Don’t get too taciturn—donors like hearing from you. Besides, if you stay mute, donors will forget about you.
If you apply these tips for merging your direct mail and digital messaging, your revenue and response rates will both skyrocket!
