Are you sincere about reducing marketing costs for your nonprofit? Then you'll want to read this short post.
Right now, I'm reading the biography of Steve Jobs, and one of the reasons that Apple was so successful under his leadership was his obsession with simplifying things. People love Apple products because they're easy to use.
With marketing, it's often difficult to embrace simplicity, yet in my experience, campaigns that are both simple and less expensive, often outperform complex campaigns that require larger budgets. With this in mind, I wanted to shine a light on a very simple nonprofit direct mail marketing campaign that got so many of the subtle, yet critically important elements exactly right.
As a vendor who works closely with the nonprofit community to process direct mail marketing campaigns, I feel pressure every day to pinch pennies for charitable organizations so that they can get more out of their limited marketing dollars. The challenge is that many of my cost-saving suggestions fall on deaf ears, so when I see someone who gets it right, I feel obligated to share.
So what's so special about this simple campaign?
1) Single-color ink: Just about everyone has a color printer in their office or home, so the default mindset is that everything should be printed in color-right? The reality is that for quantities fewer than 2,000 pieces, single-color printing can save substantial amounts of money-this is especially true with envelopes.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida actually has a 3-color logo, but they also have an alternate single-color version that was used for this mailing project.
What about your organization? How many colors are in your logo? Do you have a single-color version? How would it impact the response of donors or volunteers if you started using a single-color version of your logo on some of your marketing? My suspicion is that it wouldn't have any impact at all to use a single-color version.
If you have board members who are obsessed about always printing a full-color version of your logo, this may be a good conversation to have. Before you raise the topic, do your homework and investigate how much money you could save and then share your arguments.
2) Nonprofit postage: Is your organization set up to mail at the nonprofit rate? Shame on you if not! It's 100% FREE to do this. Here's a link with instructions where you can download the paperwork and submit your request right away.
Contact me with any questions about getting approved to mail at the nonprofit rate. I've helped dozens of charitable organizations get approved.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida mailed their invitation using the nonprofit rate. This piece was mailed to their most exclusive donor list. I know this may be shocking to you, but the truth is that millions of dollars are wasted each year by nonprofits who are not taking advantage of mailing at the nonprofit rate.
The savings are substantial. You're looking at postage of 15 cents apiece for automated nonprofit postage versus 44 cents (soon to increase) for a first-class stamp. Do the math and figure out how much money your nonprofit could save.
3) Automation: So what in the world is automation? Does it mean that your fundraising appeal needs to be prepared by robots? No, it does not; you can click here for a full explanation of automated direct mail.
Two simple benefits of automation are 1) lower postage (saving on average 5 cents apiece) and 2) speedier delivery by the United States Post Office. You'll notice the barcode printed at the bottom of the envelope. This intelligent mail barcode was added by my company BEFORE the mailing was sent.
For purists who think that the barcodes look ugly and make the mail piece look more like a solicitation, I have some bad news for you because if you don't print it one the envelope, the USPS equipment will. Don't believe me? Take a look at the mail that you receive at home today or at your office and notice all the barcodes. If you print the barcodes instead of the post office, you pay less postage.
4) Precancelled Stamps: Simply put, precancelled stamps look like first class postage but mail at the rate indicated in fine print on the stamp.
Notice the stamp on the image of the envelope. With the exception of postal geeks like me, most people will not ever realize that it's not a first-class stamp on the envelope. Here's a link that will tell you everything you need to know about precancelled stamps.
5) Mailing Labels: I hate using white mailing labels to address an invitation. I think they look cheap and tacky. You'll notice that the example piece from Conservancy of Southwest Florida has an address printed directly onto the envelope.
Of course your board will tell you that hand-addressed envelopes look better, but is your board going to hand-address them for you, and will your mailing get out on time? By hand-addressing, you'll also be sacrificing the tremendous postage savings that you get by mailing at the nonprofit rate, so my advice would be to limit hand-addressed appeals and invitations as much as possible. I think you'll agree that the font chosen for the sample piece still conveys sophistication.
I bet before you started reading this, you didn't realize the power of a lowly envelope. I didn't even talk about the piece inside, but now you see how the decisions associated with your envelope can impact not just the perception of your campaign, but the dollars and cents that you invest in every single mail marketing campaign.
Here's your homework: Take just one of the cost-saving ideas listed above and implement it in your organization before the end of the calendar year. It doesn't matter which you choose: single-color printing, mailing at the nonprofit rate, using precancelled stamps or automation.
Savings in any area will buy you the extra money that you're seeking for your next mail marketing campaign. By keeping your marketing simple and focusing on getting the basics right, you’ll be more likely to spend less and have a more successful campaign.
Remember, if you get stuck, you can always contact me, but you've got to take the first step.
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What are best practices that you've seen in nonprofit direct mail marketing? Please share your comments below.








