Personalization
Want better returns from your marketing and appeal budget? Try using personalization! Whether you are trying to drive traffic to an online store, increase membership, or receive more donations, personalization is THE best and most cost effective way to do it. We specialize in adding information from your database to the final printed piece to the greatest effect possible in order to get the results YOU want!
Here's some information so you'll know how important personalization really is!
Why?
- 93% of direct mail fundraising appeals are letters because people give to people. Letters are from a person to a person―and the more personalized the better!
- We love the sound of our own name! The first thing donors should read in a letter is their name in the salutation.
- Donors tend to forget when and how much they previously gave. Remind them! Along with a reminder, thank them for the previous gift and list the amount. We like to know we helped out!
“I’ll get to this later” is the procrastinator's rally cry. Response cards often get set aside, since it takes effort to fill it out and write out a check. So, make it easier with these tips:
- Pre-print the donor’s information so they don’t have to do it.
- Include check off boxes for the suggested amount to give – removing the mental effort of deciding what amount to give.
- Update their contact information. Print their phone number and email if you have it, and leave a blank line if you don’t. Ask them to provide their email address so you can keep them updated.
Where?
Letter
- Salutation: use their first name
- Start an ask sentence or thank you sentence with first name
- For top donors: hand write notes on the letter
Response card
- Name and address
- Phone number
- Last annual fund gift
- Last annual fund gift date
- Ask amount
- Constituent ID
How?
Chances are that you already have the essential data in your database, but to get personalization right, you need to work hard to have clean, accurate data.
Pay particular attention to the salutation field. Only you will know that Chris J. goes by C.J. not by Chris, or whether Robert goes by Robert, Rob, Bob, or Bobby, or is one of those few remaining formal people who prefer to be addressed as Mrs. Robinson, not Claudia.
Try and code gifts in your database so you know where they came from. When using the last gift as the basis for thanking the donor or for asking for a new gift, you want to base it on their last annual fund gift, not an event registration or a capital campaign gift. Assign a code (like SA0418 – indicating Spring Appeal APR 2018) to each gift source so you can correctly pull the last gift.
So if you've been "on the fence" about whether to use personalization on your marketing piece, or didn't know how to do it, let Pro Printers help you get the results you deserve from your marketing piece or appeal mailing.
