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Direct Mail; Dead or Alive?
Jessica Harrington, Vice President

June 2009

Is Direct Mail Acquisition a Thing of the Past?

With everyone all a-"Twitter" over Facebook these days, there are a lot of discussions about whether direct mail fundraising campaigns are a thing of the past, especially when trying to reach a younger audience.

Certainly, many fundraisers are questioning the value of direct mail and whether or not it continues to be a cost efficient way to attract, retain and upgrade donors.

I can tell you this, when done as part of a multi-channel marketing initiative, and coupled with online giving opportunities, direct mail is and will continue to be an essential and effective way to acquire and engage donors for your organization.

And, I’m not just reading direct mail tea leaves here…I’m analyzing direct mail results!

Schultz & Williams mailed over three million pieces of direct mail in 2009–yes, direct mail–to acquire new members for zoos across America.

Who was our target audience? It’s "young" women with children under six years old! And while you and I might define "young" differently, women under 40 constitute this younger demographic that we keep hearing are non-direct mail responsive.

And so what are the results?

On average, response rates to these direct mail acquisition campaigns are up 20%. Most zoos are netting money. In fact, two zoos are in positions to net over $500,000 from their spring direct mail membership campaigns this year.

Of course, where possible, we couple direct mail packages with email blasts. We also worked with our zoo clients to launch aggressive social networking campaigns, encouraging them to blog, post and tweet the offers to their own pages. In fact, the offer went viral on a few local mommy blogs this spring. And we helped them spread the word by providing our clients with an email that had a special "Friends & Family" offer.

Our campaigns are also driving people to join online (and well over 35% are doing just that!).

Honestly, we don’t consider our acquisition campaigns to be mail-only. They are clearly multi-channel campaigns designed to get the message out in different mediums and allow for fulfillment in a number of ways. However, they are built on a strategic direct mail campaign platform.

Every year Schultz & Williams tests whether or not we can eliminate the mail component of these acquisition campaigns. It’s pretty clear; we can’t. Our 25-40 year-old moms still respond, in big numbers, to direct mail packages. (As a matter of fact, we tested mailing postcards instead of full mail packages, but the mailings are achieving response rates two times those of the postcards.)

Now, I’m not suggesting that a zoo membership offer is the same as a pure philanthropic donation. There is real and perceived family value with a zoo membership.

What I do know, however, is that younger audiences read and, through one channel or another, respond to a great offer received in the mail.

Schultz & Williams is a national consulting firm based in Philadelphia; providing management, fundraising and marketing consulting for nonprofit organizations, along with full-service direct marketing, database and creative/production services.