Receiving Direct Mail

I’ve spent almost thirty-five years defending direct mail. Mostly, this has been in response to those in nonprofit fundraising who would like it if direct mail fundraising went away.

Now, I don’t believe that everyone you mail to necessarily wants to receive it, or even reads it for that matter.

But there are many who do want it and look forward to it.

Let me take you on journey through the ways real people consume direct mail.

My hope is that you find what follows to be a good roadmap to follow if you’re involved in direct mail fundraising:

First, let’s just accept the fact that no matter what you send, no matter how it looks, there are certain people who will simply throw your mail piece away. That’s right. There is a certain segment of say the thousand folks you mail to who will dump your letter or postcard or impact report or newsletter right into the garbage.

Then there are those who will give you between fifteen and twenty seconds of their attention. They scan the headline, look at the picture, captions, and other elements you’ve highlighted. But they’re not reading yet. They’re deciding if what they’re looking at is interesting or not.

Now, let’s say they decide to open what you’ve sent them. What do they do next? They ask certain questions. Like:

1. Is it addressed to me?

2. What does the caption say?

3. Who signed the letter?

4. What does the PS say? Is it easy to read?

5. How does it pertain to me?

6. What is being asked of me?

Your direct mail should be a one-to-one conversation between the signer of the letter and its recipient and nothing assures that individual that your message is intended for him or her better than seeing their name at the beginning of a letter. Be advised: the marginal cost saving of not personalizing a letter is not worth the drop in response.

Next, most readers take a second to scan whatever is in the caption or call out box. Use this space, as well as underlining, bolding, and other notes to highlight your call to action, and to direct the reader’s eyes across and down the page.   

When working with direct mail, it’s possible to be bored by a standard letter format. However, a standard letter format is what works in fundraising.

The reader of the letter also wants to know who signed the letter. At Rescigno’s, we have found that it’s very helpful to print signer’s name under the signature. Also, stay away from scribbled signatures—they don’t build trust and studies of eye flow show that readers respond negatively to a signature that’s hard to read.

Many people will then read the PS before moving back to the top of the letter. Not using a PS is a missed opportunity to say something important in one of the natural spots where a reader’s eye goes in this kind of letter. Keep your PS to 2-3 lines and use it to restate your call to action and tell the donor exactly how they can respond (and to repeat how much you have asked them to donate).

A couple of other tips:

• Keep your paragraphs short

• Provide plenty of white space to make it easy to read

• Indent your paragraphs

Finally, Your goal is to be understood and research shows that writing at a lower level will hit the mark with the widest audience. Aiming above that will lose you readers and responders. Simple, clear language is not dumbing down, it’s showing an understanding of your audience.