Charities have made a splash in the digital world in the past couple of years, from ALS’s viral ice bucket challenge to Crowdrise’s recent 3D virtual reality experience for Giving Tuesday.
While digital and social media now play important roles for not-for-profit organizations, many are not giving up on the old-fashioned tactic of direct mail.
“What all marketers aim to do is get above the noise. What’s interesting is that with the decline of physical mail in terms of volume, and the incredible multiplication of digital avenues and other avenues to connect to people, direct mail actually gives you a way to stand out,” said Rocco Rossi, president and CEO at Prostate Cancer Canada. “People are getting mail of any sort less often and so in some respects, it’s a more intrusive media than many others.”
Last year, direct mail represented just under $3 million out of around $20 million in total raised for Prostate Cancer Canada. The organization sends out four to five prospecting campaigns every year to attract new donors. In addition, each donor receives six or seven direct mailings during the year, which feature the charity’s organizational goals and information on how donors’ money is being invested, specifically in research.
“[Direct mail] lets you tell a more complete story. It’s not 140 characters,” said Rossi. “Particularly when you live with 89,000 registered charities, as we do in Canada, your ability to tell your story and give your stakeholders an understanding of what you’re doing with their money is so important. This is a medium that lets you lay that out in very powerful ways.”
At Salvation Army, direct mail campaigns revolve around seasonal themes such as its summer camp programs and Christmas giving, as well as more general asks focusing on issues such as child poverty. The organization also sends out targeted newsletters relevant to specific regions in the country, as well as donors’ interests such as international relief.
“We do know that some people still appreciate receiving mail,” said John McAlister, national director of marketing and communications at Salvation Army. “There’s definitely danger in saying ‘everything is going digital, let’s shift to that.’
“For us, it is performing, even though we are seeing a gradual decline [in response rates]. It’s obviously far more expensive to print mail and to ship it than it is to send out an email, but it still is effective for us.”
Owen Charters, chief marketing and development officer at MS Society of Canada, said direct mail works largely because older consumers, who are the most generous givers, predominantly respond to the mail.
“Mail is important, there’s a personal touch to it, and it is personalized versus the chaos and confusion of an electronic world coming at them,” said Charters. “If we were to try to move them to something else, we just know it wouldn’t work.”
However, he still sees a role for direct mail with younger consumers. “We probably won’t ever get out of the direct response business because we do find the next generations, from baby boomers to millennials, are very engaged in multiple modes. It’s rare that they say ‘I just want email and I only want to interact with you online.’”
He pointed to the example of Nespresso, whose coffee pods are largely ordered online, but the company mails out a glossy magazine about lifestyle, drinking coffee in exotic places and the latest Nespresso products. “It drives people like myself back to online tools to make the transactions,” said Charters.
Salvation Army’s McAlister expects direct mail will be a strong part of its marketing mix for the next few years at least.
“A few years ago, everyone was saying ‘death of printed magazines and printed books. Everything is going to be ebooks and everything is going to be read online,’” said McAlister. “We know people continue to buy books and I think there’s even a swing back to printed books over ebooks. You can embrace technology, but there’s something comforting about having something tangible and holding something in your hands.”
“If we had had this conversation a year or two ago, I would probably be using a tone of ‘direct mail is going to die,’” he added. “But we’re not seeing that play out so far.”
