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Online rising, but direct mail still reigns

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 17 Sep 2008

Direct mail remains an effective method of fundraising, but online is becoming an increasingly critical element to securing donations from direct mail campaigns, according to two new reports from the USA.

A study conducted by the AB Data Group and Mellman Group for the Association of Fundraising Professionals discovered that there has been little change in the rate of response to direct mail campaigns between 1995 and 2008, despite concerns over the rising importance of the internet and the saturation of the direct mail market.

However, a study commissioned by the Non Profit Times discovered that the number of people going online after receiving direct mail material has doubled from levels three years ago. Significantly, the study found that nearly three times as many donors in the 65-plus age bracket now look up the organisation on the internet before responding to a direct mail campaign, rising to 21 per cent from 8 per cent in 2005.

Young people in the 18 – 24 year old age group were, predictably, the most likely to do due diligence on an organisation on the internet, with 64 per cent researching online before deciding how to respond to a direct mail request.

The proportion of people across the board who did not turn to the internet at all dropped from 61 per cent to 47 per cent over the three years. But while the numbers using online sources to research and do due diligence on charities has increased, the researchers behind both American studies were quick to warn that online donations were not in danger of eclipsing their letterbox counterparts.

“Online donations have not significantly hurt direct mail as of yet,” said Charles Pruitt of AB Data Group.

“I don’t see online donations being yet so second nature to people, or as convenient as writing a cheque,” said Rick Christ of npadvisors.com. But, he added, “Your own website is more important in supporting a direct mail package than it’s ever been.”

“It’s another clear priority, certainly to any non-profit that’s doing direct mail,” he said.

The AFP study found that online and direct mail donors had loyalty to their own preferred method of payment, with online donors citing convenience and the ability to use their credit cards as major reasons for using the internet.

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