As the donor landscape continues to shift, many nonprofit leaders are asking an important question: Why is our directly attributed revenue to direct mail declining, and at what point do we start canceling mailings?
At Masterworks, we’ve seen a steady increase in direct mail acquisition matchback rates where a donor’s online gift can be traced to us having sent them a direct mail piece. This is relatively easy to track in acquisition, where we control the mailing list and can match new gifts by name and address.
But what happens when we turn our focus from acquisition to cultivation?
With more donors shifting their giving behavior from checks to credit cards and more nonprofits allocating new donor budgets to digital channels, the influence of direct mail has become increasingly difficult to measure through traditional source code attribution. And yet, donor surveys consistently show that younger donors, especially Millennials, report being influenced by direct mail, even when they don’t give directly to it.
So we decided to test it.
Testing Direct Mail’s Influence on Digital Donors
We designed a longitudinal test across a dozen nonprofit clients to evaluate how direct mail impacted donor retention and value, particularly for donors who had never given through the mail.
The hypothesis: If digital-only donors never respond to direct mail, perhaps we should reduce or eliminate those touchpoints.
The results told a more nuanced story:
- Retention declined when we reduced the number of mailings to digital-only donors.
- However, the value of those who did retain increased, suggesting that a more curated mail experience may lead to deeper engagement. (We tested this too.)
- The optimal frequency for digital-only donors appeared to be 10 to 12 pieces per year in order to balance the decline in retention and improve net revenue.
Donors who had previously given by mail but now give exclusively online required more frequent mail contact to maintain retention—likely because previous communication patterns conditioned them.
What This Means for Nonprofit Leaders
Direct mail may not always drive an immediate gift but that doesn’t mean it’s not driving long-term value and commitment. As nonprofits look to optimize channel strategies, it’s critical to measure more than just direct response.
Before cutting back on what might appear to be “low-performing” mailings, ask:
- What impact is this communication having on retention, even if it’s not the source of the gift?
- Are we evaluating influence as well as attribution?
- How should we test our assumptions before making wholesale changes?
Bottom line: Direct mail remains a vital component in multichannel donor engagement. It may not always close the gift, but it often sets the table.
