Direct Mail Scores High With Fundraisers

Direct Marketing

May 2010 -- While many other business sectors -- financial, publishing and catalog -- have reduced their direct mail volume, fundraisers have "moved from a major player to a dominant one in the past year," according to analysis of data collected by North American Publishing's Who's Mailing What! Archive.
 

Every month the Who's Mailing What! Archive receives and analyzes approximately 4,000 to 5,000 pieces of direct mail in nearly 200 categories. The database calls itself "the largest library of direct mail," housing information on 130,000 direct mail packages.
 

According to analysis of the Archive's data, fundraisers have kept up their mailing frequency.  In fact, according to DirectMarketingIQ.com, "fundraising mail actually rose in 2008 and 2009 as compared to 2007.  And since 2007, fundraisers grew from a respectable 13% of the mail stream to 20% in 2009. That means a full one-fifth of the mail stream is fundraising mail."
 

While most fundraisers have also increased their use of email and social media marketing efforts, "most dollars are still coming through direct mail, as well as many of the other key communications."
 

An additional finding:  In 2009, personalization of direct mailings slightly declined by approximately 4%.