Not-For-Profit Mailings

A Profile on our Non-Profit Consulting

With best practices and expertise in direct mail for fundraising, Troi Mailing Services is an asset for not-for-profit companies looking to improve communication with their donor base.

Our direct mail team is currently engaged by longstanding non-profit clients in a consultant role. Through working with these clients, we have grown their donations each year, increased response rates, and shown them new ways to expand their fundraising efforts using different streams of mail – while improving their current direct mail streams. Here are some pointers on key practices for companies to consider when improving their donor relationships:

The Power of Data

In connecting with your audience, you need to know them. In the not-for-profit sector, your database is an important tool in getting to know your donors and making your organization’s interaction with the donor a positive experience.

To make your database function in the direct mail industry, it needs to be up to date and accurate. Ensure you have the correct title, salutation, address and giving history for your donors. Some charities will even capture their donor’s date of birth in their database, so they can send them a personalized postcard on their birthday, and to promote planned giving.

Data can help to enhance your direct marketing campaigns and communicate on a more personal level with your donors. The more accurate data you have, the more opportunity you will have to make your direct mail messaging highly targeted and foster a relationship with your donor.

Remember, a good mailing campaign starts with good data!

Address Accuracy

Some solutions to keep your database up to date can be as simple as adding a reply postage guaranteed (RPG) to your indicia. In doing so, if the donor has moved and they provide a forwarding address to Canada Post, the mail you sent out will return to the organization with the new address or will just inform you that the person has moved. This service is free through Canada Post.

If your organization hasn’t updated their address list in a while, other than address validation and correction, Troi offers a National Change of Address (NCOA) sortation. This will help update your list with the most current addresses of your donors.

Strategic Personalization

Here is an example using one of the charities we’ve worked with in a consultation fundraising role since 2018. The Client and Troi developed a strategy to utilize their data to produce a targeted personalized donor-centered direct mail package. Through tracking their donor giving history, we reviewed their entire donor database and their donor giving history. We were able to divide up their database into five categories, then developed a matrix based on the donors’ giving history.

Each package sent out was personalized and the matrix on the reply device reflected each donor’s giving history, while offering the donor the opportunity to move up the donor pyramid of giving. The letter thanked the donor for their previous gift and the appeal they responded to. This is an excerpt from one of the letters, “Thank you so much for your thoughtful contribution to the GIFT campaign. We’ve missed you, and we haven’t heard from you since <<last gift date>>.”

The letters were also personalized with the donor’s first name strategically positioned throughout to provide a one-on-one conversation with the donor. Hyper-personalization is a great way to ensure your donors feel as if they are part of your cause!

Responses Matter

Within the first year of this organization leveraging their data to communicate with their donors, they noticed an increase in their response rate and donation. By the second year, they were able to meet their projected targeted goal. Our Client cites:

Troi’s expertise in strategic and personalized direct mail fundraising and database management were key to increasing our success year over year and helped us to reach our annual appeal goal of $300,000. In 2018, we had 225 direct mail donors respond to our appeal, and this increased to 280 donors in 2019. Our results went from $220,000 in 2018 to $303,000 in 2019 an increase of 38%.

In continuing to work with Troi Mailing Services, this Client will explore new streams of mail to continue exceeding their goals in 2020!

Are you interested in a free consultation for direct mail fundraising? Please call our Troi teammates at 1-866-486-9350 to schedule your one-on-one session.

We look forward to collaborating on solutions for your not-for-profit mailing goals together.