Increase your response rates by including mission-relevant involvement devices in your direct mail. These aren’t premiums like address labels. Instead, I’m talking about items that require the donor to interact with your mail package and do something. These are things like holiday cards, get well cards, meal tickets and table tent cards that you ask your donors to sign and return with their contribution. These devices are then given to your clients as a way of showing them that there are people outside the organization who care about them.
We know from testing that including involvement devices improves performance of direct mail campaigns. Testing also shows that involvement devices are good for donor retention – even when the donors don’t make a cash contribution. That’s right. If a donor chooses not to send back a contribution, but still signs and returns the involvement device, they’ll stay active as a donor longer than those who don’t respond at all to the appeal.
This is so true. At Christmas time, St Jude’s sent out little cards that they asked donors to write a message on, to be hung on a tree for the kids. Even though our budget was tight, knowing we could bring a little cheer to a child in a difficult situation prompted a donation, along with our written message.