Whenever nonprofits talk about direct mail or I talk with my own board, staff and fellow volunteers about mailing, the first question that allows comes up is "are we mailing too much?" There are always a fair amount of advocates for the less is more philosophy, who hate getting too many letters from various organizations as well as stickers, trinkets and other brick-a-brack. I can, of course, understand there concerns. I tend to lean towards the side of more communications, as I tend to feel that otherwise your donors will forget about you and you should be constantly sharing.
Today Gail Perry, who I follow on Twitter @GailPerrync, posted an article to Twitter about starting the conversation - are we mailing too much? The
article suggested rather than focusing on mailing we should focus on questions like
- What do my donors expect from their relationship with my brand?
- How satisfied and committed are my donors to the brand? And, what's driving satisfaction and commitment to my brand?
- What's the "story" I'm telling my donors across all of my touches?
And, what messages truly resonate with what my donors need to hear?(quoted from the article)
I think the stories we're communicating, branding, and also calls to action should be included in all our mailings - this alleviates donors feeling like piggy banks and also reminds them why they are involved in this cause in the first place, making the mailing about more than just the ask. However, I do think the ask is a critical part of any mailing and you shouldn't shy away from stating what you need from the donor a few times a year.
In regards to the too much question, the article says that a recent industry study in 2011 revealed that if messaging was on point there was not a case of too much mailing.
Food for thought? Do you have the ongoing discussion on too much/too little?
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