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Direct mail most popular donor-acquisition channel
Software firm Blackbaud recently released the results of the 2011 donorCentrics Internet and Multichannel Giving Benchmarking Report. The report found direct mail - bolstered by postal software - to be the most popular and effective channel for attracting donors for nonprofits and charitable causes.
Specifically, the study reports that the majority of gifts are received through direct mail, but also found the popularity of giving through online channels to be increasing as well. According to the survey, online-acquired donors tend to be younger and have larger sources of income.
"The internet is becoming an increasingly important acquisition channel but has not proven to be as effective [than direct mail] for retention," said Rob Harris, Target Analytics' director of analytic products. "It is the ability of online-acquired donors to use another channel - that is, to start giving through direct mail - that significantly boosts the long-term value of this group of donors."
The physical and familiar appeal of direct mail has ensured its relevance in recent years, even as new competing technologies, web-to-print services and the economic downturn all came to prominence. Most analysts expect the channel to remain a popular marketing device for some time.
