Print is not dead. Nope. Not even close.
Guess what showed up in my mailbox this week?
Yep.
Amazon’s Holiday Catalog
The largest e-commerce company ON THE PLANET just mailed out some untold millions of these ANALOG, NOT DIGITAL, OLD FASHIONED, PRINTED CATALOGS for the holidays.
Why?
Because Amazon knows that PRINT IS NOT DEAD.
As you make your communication plans for #GivingTuesday and #YearEnd fundraising, DON’T FORGET PRINT.
It’s not enough to simply post on social. It’s not enough to only send email.
I don’t care if you have a million followers on TikTok with 1000 influencers there talking about your cause until they’re blue in the face … actually … if you have that, maybe you don’t need a print piece. Maybe.
However, if you don’t have that and you want to unleash the maximum amount of generosity for your cause over the next several weeks, make sure you drop at least one something (multiple somethings work too) in the mail to your champions.
You don’t have to send anything fancy, either.
Would it be great to send a beautiful catalog like our friends at the world’s largest online retailer? Sure.
But … a plain text letter (done right) on your letterhead with a reply envelope and something simple to make it stand out in the mail will work just as well as a fancy full-color glossy mail package. Maybe even better.
If you already have a good digital-only campaign, in many cases, you can expect a lift of at least 20-25% by putting a well-crafted fundraising offer directly into someone’s physical mailbox.
Is there an added cost to direct mail? Sure.
Can you make mistakes with it? Yep. I once mailed an appeal to 6000 households and did NOT include a reply card.
But … putting a good print piece in the mail to your community WILL boost the performance of your campaign.
It WILL help unleash more generosity.
If direct mail is good enough for the LARGEST E-COMMERCE COMPANY ON THE PLANET to go through the trouble of creating and sending a 103-page printed catalog to who knows how many untold households, shouldn’t we at least consider including it as part of our year-end fundraising plans?
If direct mail appeals are new to you or if you’re considering layering a print piece or two into your year-end fundraising this year, make sure you join me this afternoon for the October CAFO Fundraising Learning Lab, where we’ll be talking about (among many other things) how to craft a mail appeal that will help you level up your year-end fundraising. Sign up here.
