Mail Superiority: How to Run a Profitable Annual Direct Mail Fundraising Program

Learn the insider secrets of running a profitable direct mail fundraising letter program. How can you raise money with direct mail when you never seem to have enough hours in your day or money in your budget to do the job properly? You need a plan. A step-by-step plan that helps you save time, reduce costs and still meet your fundraising goals. In Mail Superiority: How to Run a Profitable Annual Direct Mail Fundraising Program, you'll learn the tested methods that leading charities use to raise money through the mail. You'll learn the mistakes to avoid, the best practices to implement today, and the tips, techniques and shortcuts that you can use for years to come. Running a successful annual fundraising letter program is getting harder by the week. There are more non-profit organizations today than there were a week ago. And competition for your donor s dollar is increasing along with costs of printing and postage. And yet direct mail fundraising remains one of the most cost-effective ways to raise funds. Many non-profit organizations depend on the mail for over 50% of their contributed income each year. Over the years, successful direct mail fundraisers have discovered that the route to results lies in following some time-tested principles. You'll learn them in this book . . . * how direct mail fundraising works * why you should plan to lose money on your acquisition mailings (and why your board shouldn't mind) * four goals of every renewal fundraising letter * response rates, net profit, cost to raise a dollar and other vital signs of your success * key steps you must follow every year to retain donors * why donors give and what makes them stop