It’s that time of year again when many non-profits are sending out their Holiday Appeal mailings. With that in mind, I thought I would share a couple of strategies to get the most out of your appeal. An appeal mailing could be a particular direct mail piece or a specific email campaign sent to your prospects and donors. With any Appeal mailing, make sure you track who responds to each solicitation. With this information, you can determine the following:
- Whether you’re focusing on the correct individuals or organizations
- What type of solicitation garners the most support (e-mail, direct mail, personal letters, etc…)
- What type of messaging gets the most attention
Another good suggestions is to track the effectiveness of your appeals over time to determine if certain types of appeals work better than others. It’s also important to include dates in the description of your appeal…like Walk-a-Thons, Charity events, etc…this way you can accurately measure the success of each appeal and remember, donations related to a certain appeal will continue to come in after the event is over.
Remember the tips above and your next Appeal Mailing will be a successful one!
