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Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Fundraising Tuesday: Envelopes Make Donors Want to Open Your Mail

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Did you get a lot of requests for donations in the mail last year? So did I. I just held a ruler up to the stack of mail that arrived in November and December of 2019. It was more than six inches worth of paper.

envelopes

Taller than a coffee cup. For sure. But more powerful?

The power of the nonprofit message all depends on whether we choose to open the envelope.

Direct Mail is You Against the World

Piles of envelopes coming through the mail: at home, we are used to that. As donors ourselves, we may have a routine: open the mail next to the recycling bin and pitch, pitch, pitch. Save that one for later. Pitch, pitch, pitch.

That includes the organizations we love and the organizations we’ve never heard of. The appeal letters are mixed in with the bills and the marketing mail. It’s all just a mass of paper, and the more we throw into the bin, the more we win.

We know that when we are at home, thinking like donors. But as soon as we get to the office, we forget it. Our nonprofit is so special, and its work is so important. Donors must be dying to see, open, and read everything we send them. Right?

Wrong. Our appeal letters are part of the pile, and it’s our direct mail against letters from everybody else in the world–until we do something that makes donors want to read them. Often, that’s the envelope.

Envelopes that Welcome Donors In

Statistically, one of the best ways to get your mail to stand out from the pack is to send it in an oversized envelope. Whether that’s a full sheet of paper or a greeting card size, it immediately calls attention to itself.

Oversized envelopes

As you can see, some of these envelopes use graphics to differentiate themselves, too. That’s even more important if you’re sending appeal letters in regular business-sized envelopes. An envelope with graphics…

Envelopes with graphics

..or an envelope that IS a graphic!

Envelope, all graphic

With or without a drawing or photo on the front, some envelopes beg to be opened because they have a compelling message there. United Farm Workers warns “Workers hung out to dry.” Don’t you want to open the envelope to find out what that mean, and what you can do about it?

In These Times magazine says, in bright red script letters, “Help the press protect democracy.” (They also used a colorful first-class stamp, which catches the eye–and is known to get a better result than a nonprofit imprint.)

What did your nonprofit do in 2019 to make sure your envelope would get opened?

What will you do in 2020, now that you’ve looked at these examples?

 

Do Your Donors Want Poetry or Prose?

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How should you raise money for your cause? Write grant proposals, send out appeal letters, hold events, use crowdfunding?

It depends whether your donors want poetry or prose.

My Book of Days cover

Raising funds with words that sing

My late brother Ron Fischman needed money. He had commissioned artist Debora Alanna to produce the beautiful cover illustration for his new volume of poems, My Book of Days–and he had to pay her for her work.

Ron set up a crowdfunding campaign on Pubslush. He went on to do all the things that would draw people in and make them feel they were doing something good.

  • He showed people the art they’d be supporting
  • He gave them several tastes of what the book was all about.
  • He made it personal. Debora “prepared [this cover art] out of faith that my friends, colleagues, Jewish and poetic worlds would make this campaign successful.”

Ron also offered premiums that would appeal to exactly the kind of person who would support his book.

And it worked! The crowdfunding campaign raised enough money to pay the artist, send out the premiums, and do a tiny bit of additional promotion besides.  (By the way, you can order a copy of Ron’s book if you wish. Just click this link.

Raising funds with ideas that matter

Ron needed less than a thousand dollars to make his dream come true, and he had something tangible to show as a result. His cause was made for crowdfunding.

Others, not so much.

My friend and colleague Robin Carton of Kayak Consulting Group was trying to raise money for a group that makes small, progressive organizations all over the Boston area smarter and stronger.

Her client wanted to send a direct mail fundraising appeal to the people who support those organizations.  The catch? They had no money for direct mail in their budget.

Can you imagine going public with the plea “Give us money so we can send out letters to raise more money?”  No, I can’t either!

Robin and I agreed that her client’s best bet was to submit grant proposals to foundations and businesses. Foundations have concepts for what her client does: “capacity building,” and “combined impact.”  Businesses understand “marketing’ and “return on investment.”

The language may not sing, but it may convince. And if they’re successful, Robin and her client will attract a lot more than a thousand dollars.

When you think about how to raise money for your cause, consider it a communications question.  Do the people you want to support you think in poetry or prose?

 

Use Social Media to Set the Mood for Giving

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Giving to charity, word cloudOnce your appeal letter is in the mail, what can you do to help donors decide to give?

Reaching out directly through the phone or by email is a good idea… especially if you make your calls and emails warm and personal.

The Wrong Way to Use Social Media

For most organizations, asking directly for money through social media is not a good idea. Here’s why.

Picture yourself on Facebook. What are you doing there? You went online to catch up with your friends, and perhaps to see a meme that would amuse or outrage you. You didn’t go to Facebook to do business. And that includes giving away money.

There are exceptions. If you’ve tried asking online before and it worked for you, congratulations! If you want to experiment with fundraising via social media, ask for donations for a specific cause, with an immediate impact. Think of it as crowdfunding.

In general, though, “making the ask” is the wrong way to use social media to back up your end-of-year appeal. There is a better way.

Put Your Donors in the Mood for Giving

in a giving moodA donation is an act of love…and like other acts of love, it goes better if you set the mood. Too bad you can’t offer your donors a glass of wine, a fireplace, and romantic music on social media!

But here is what you can do to make them feel like giving:

    1. Give their pleasure your full attention. Between now and December 31, post pieces that will make donors feel good about themselves when they give.
    2. Tell stories. Create good memories that you and your donors share. It will bring you closer.
    3. Share the love. Post stories–or even better, videos–of donors like them saying why they love giving to your organization and how it makes them feel.

It Takes Two to Tango

For the donor to feel the love, you have to be feeling it too. And that’s difficult in December. You’re watching the numbers on the end-of-year appeal and worrying about what happens if you don’t meet your fundraising goal. Performance anxiety is making you tense.

May I make a suggestion? Before you write for social media this month, slow it down. Breathe. Think about why you care so much: the good results your organization bring about that makes you want it to succeed.

Now, think about the donor.  She cares about those good results too. You’re together in this. That’s what brought you together in the first place.

You just have to speak the language of love with your donors, and watch them respond.

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