Nonprofit
Nonprofit organizations or associations face distinct marketing challenges when it comes to effectively engaging donors, raising awareness, and attracting new members on limited budgets. Every dollar is crucial, and with fewer resources than for-profit counterparts, it’s essential to maximize the efficiency of each marketing dollar. To achieve membership goals, drive fundraising initiatives, and keep existing members informed and loyal, partnering with an experienced team like Digital Dog Direct can make all the difference.
At Digital Dog Direct, servicing nonprofit organizations is at our core and has been for the past 20+ years. Our team utilizes advanced technologies such as variable data printing, QR codes, and augmented reality to execute direct mail campaigns that deliver results. We offer cost-effective, personalized direct mail services, leveraging our digital printing platform.
Handwritten Personalization Project for the American Cancer Society
Since personalization typically triples response rates over non-personalized direct mail, the American Cancer Society was interested in taking personalization to the next level by handwriting special notes on a fundraising campaign.
Would the increase in response rates and donations be worth investing in a team of 50 writers to personalize over 100,000 pieces? We knew it would.
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The Challenge
Digital Dog Direct was tasked with producing and testing two versions of the campaign to see whether or not handwritten notes would be more effective than more common and cost-effective digitally printed personalization methods. We produced and mailed over 190,000 pieces over a two-week period:
● 104,092 pieces included handwritten messages: Digital Dog Direct assembled, supervised, and quality controlled a team of professional handwriters for the project. The handwritten portion included messaging on the outer envelope, on an enclosed thank you card, and on a reply card.
● 87,050 pieces with laser-printed messages and no handwritten personalization.
The Result
The American Cancer Society saw a significant difference in response rates between handwritten and laser-printed versions of the campaign. The better response rates and increased donation amounts that were directly linked to the handwritten pieces were more than enough to justify the higher cost of 400% for the handwritten version of the campaign. In fact, the American Cancer Society continues to leverage Digital Dog Direct for coordinating, printing, and mailing additional handwritten campaigns.