Analysis of Current Direct Mail Letters Review and assess the direct mail fundra

Analysis of Current Direct Mail Letters
Review and assess the direct mail fundraising letters used currently (or most recently) by your organization for purposes of securing donations from individual donors
Are these letters aimed at acquiring first-time donors, renewing donors, upgrading present donors, recapturing lapsed donors, and/or seeking gifts from present donors for special purposes?
New Hope for Families’ most recent direct mail letters are aimed at acquiring first-time donors that have not previously been involved with the organization. The letters encourage recipients to “Join the Hope Movement,” which encourages them to become involved with your mission to achieve something bigger than themselves (New Hope for Families, 2022).
Which of these purposes is most important to the organization and/or which type of letter is most in need to be developed or improved?
As outlined in the Gift Range Chart, New Hope for Families should mainly focus on obtaining new donors that give smaller amounts of $1-$250. Large donors already account for a significant portion of the annual fund, so obtaining new small donors will have the largest impact on your ability to meet annual fundraising goals. New Hope does target these donors in the most recent direct mail appeals, but donations beyond that limit are proposed as well. For the purpose of acquiring new donors, it may be impactful to provide more gift options on the lower end of the spectrum. This will encourage new donors to get involved because these options are provided to them along with the specific impact of each donation amount.
Another way to improve the effectiveness of the direct mail campaigns is to detail exactly how a donor’s gift will benefit the organization or the people it serves. People like to know that their donation will actually have an impact; they are more likely to give when they can be sure their money is going toward something tangible. The letters do state some of New Hope’s outcomes, but not how donations were integral to those outcomes. By detailing how small gifts from new or one-time donors have helped New Hope carry out its mission, you can increase the likelihood that people will choose to become donors (PTFR, 52).
Grading Criteria:
Is there a careful assessment of the existing fundraising letter(s) used by the organization?
Are the appropriate criteria applied cogently?
New Direct Mail Letter
Write a NEW direct mail fundraising letter for your nonprofit organization. Be sure to prepare a FULL mailing package, not just the text of the letter itself
Include a full discussion of your approach and the choices you made (text, design elements, etc.)
This will help your partner organization draft future letters on their own
Use information developed for Assignments 1 & 2.
Must include:
Direct mail letter, including a visually attractive package, a strong opening which interests the reader immediately, a specific request (solicitation) for a gift, and a postscript (p.s.).
Effective fundraising letters adhere to the LIA/LAI principles by seeking to capture the donor’s interests and to build or strengthen relationships with the donor.
Readers respond to the good that the nonprofit accomplishes, so mail solicitation letters should make the case, tell the story, and engage the reader.
Grading Criteria:
Does the new letter follow the general principles for an effective, well-organized solicitation letter identified in the readings and are these principles and their applications explained in the discussion?
Is the purpose of the letter (prospecting, renewing, upgrading, recapturing, special appeal) explained? Is the text of the letter and other components relevant to that particular purpose, and are the specific elements designed to achieve this purpose explained and grounded in the readings?
Is the writing effective and are the various components of appearance, language, and length appropriate and are they explained and justified?
Is the full mailing package complete, well developed and likely to serve the particular purpose?
Important Notes
Although you and/or your partner organization may wish to focus on electronic communication strategies (email solicitations, text messages, internet-based fundraising options, etc.), do NOT prepare such expressions for this assignment. Direct mail letters remain an important fundraising vehicle and you and your partner organization should be familiar with key components of such letters.
Do NOT use this assignment to develop a letter to a foundation or corporation, since that is the purpose of Assignment 5.
Works Cited
New Hope for Families. (December, 2022). [Direct mail appeal from New Hope for Families].