Bringing sexy back: Direct mail production & tracking
Posted on Thu, Sep 01, 2011
By Shannon Murphy, Principal & Senior VP of Production
Chapman Cubine Adams & Hussey
Integration was the buzz word at the DMA’s New York Nonprofit conference this month. I had the pleasure to sit on a panel with fundraisers from other organizations who gave some fantastic tips.
This panel was like getting the band back together, since this same group spoke four years ago at the DMA conference in DC:
Lane Brooks, COO, Food & Water Watch
Suzanne Cole Nowers, Chief Executive Officer, Nexus Direct
Harry Lynch, CEO, Sanky Communications
Liz Murphy, Principal & Co-Founder, RedEngine Digital
Whether you wanted to know about saving money, online fundraising, direct mail tests that increase response rate, how trinkets around your office can be the next big premium idea, or of course how to use QR codes, the ideas were there.
You can download our Thirty Outstanding Integrated Fundraising Ideas in 60 Minutes that will Energize your Revenue panel here. [PDF, 948KB]
When I began putting my ideas together, I was thinking about how you can integrate direct mail production into telemarketing and online fundraising. At first, I thought, “You can’t.” But indeed you can! By tracking your mail through the IMb, you can determine when a mail piece would be in home and then plan email and telemarketing channels based on that information.
After all, studies prove that your best donors are those donors that give through more than one channel. And when you integrate campaigns, you can give those donors the opportunity to give through the channel that they choose.
It also helps to reference the mail piece when calling and emailing after it has dropped. Keeping the language, tone, and branding consistent will help your donors receive a cohesive message from the organization.
I have always joked with my colleagues that production is not sexy. But now I’m psyched to know that my piece of the puzzle can help integrate mail, phone, and online by using one simple code.
So I guess now I’ll have to say that direct mail and production are bringing sexy back, one trackable mail piece at a time.
