Direct mail skeptics may be as intractable as climate change skeptics, but the evidence that direct mail is still the most critical element of a small gift donor program is overwhelming.
According to a study by Dunham+Company, direct mail is the largest driver of online revenue …
“Donors are more than three times likelier to give online in response to a direct mail appeal than an e-appeal.
The study, conducted on behalf of Dunham+Company by research firm Campbell Rinker, found that 17 percent of donors who gave on a charity website in 2011 said that a direct mail letter prompted their online gift versus only 5 percent who said they gave online because of an email. The ratio was slightly more than 2-to-1 in a study conducted for Dunham+Company in October 2010.
In addition, 50 percent of donors surveyed in 2012 said they prefer to give online when they receive a letter in the mail from a charity. In 2010, just more than one-third of donors (38 percent) said they preferred to give online after getting a letter in the mail.”
So what to do? I think Dunham+Company sum it up perfectly …
“A maturing multichannel strategy means that all aspects of donor communications and donor experience must be coordinated. The resources responsible for creating direct mail communications must be in constant communication with the team responsible for the online experience. It is not enough to design a landing page for each offline appeal. If a donor goes to your home page as a result of a direct mail letter, they need to feel welcome there, quickly find the button that is related to the appeal and then be ushered directly into the donation experience with minimal friction.”
Check out the full study for more insight into online giving by generation.