Planned Giving Postcards

Studies — and our own experience — show that direct mail works, and works well. Postcards improve your response rate because they’re a “quick hit”: short, direct, easy to read, and high-impact. They get your message heard in a noisy world by utilizing an ideal blend of visuals and content. And even when prospects don’t respond immediately, we’ve often found they hold on to that postcard and get back to it (and you) later. Why? Because it’s easier to pin a postcard to the ‘fridge than it is a two-page appeal letter!

Postcards are an affordable way to keep your nonprofit (and your planned giving message) top of mind.  A postcard is eye-catching, quick and easy to read, and much more likely to reach your audience than an email or a digital ad. Why? Because it cuts through the clutter and stands out in a noisy world.

Postcards also work to direct readers back to your planned giving website for more information. Once on your site, visitors are enticed to read donor stories, learn about your Legacy Society, and discover ways-of-giving that will boost your endowment while building their legacy.

You have two choices if you hire us to produce your postcards:

• We can handle your project beginning to end — from its creation to dropping it in the mail.
• Alternatively, we can create the postcards and work with your own printer. Some organizations have a close relationship with a local printshop and wish to maintain that relationship in addition to receiving a discount. Plus, the postal permit on the mailer can be the same local city as that of the nonprofit.

We recommend at least four times a year. The more “touches” the better. Postcards do this economically. Marketing 101: the more you mail, conversions become disproportionately higher.

Planning on just sending out one postcard? Chances are your response rate will be extremely low.

Mail to your loyal donors — those who have been consistent in giving. There are acres of diamonds in your database, and we can help you find them. 

As a general rule, begin with those who have given at least 7 times over the past 10 years. The more you tighten the numbers (10 out of the last 15, etc.) the more of a loyal group you will be pulling from your database. This is a science and an art — you will need to achieve the perfect balance.

Bequests make up 92.5% of all planned gifts. You can use postcards to remind your donors that “they can make a gift that does not affect cashflow during their lifetime,” and gently noting that 68% of Americans do not have a will in place. You can also use postcards to promote your LegacyPlanner™ to draft a free will, or use the LegacyOrganizer™ to prepare an outline and work with their attorney.

Read How to Launch a Simple Bequest Program.

Yes, and in fact, we advise nonprofits to take a multi-pronged approach to marketing. And campaigns are often more successful when they employ multiple touches across marketing mediums. This is especially true today as the world gets noisier. (We call it marketing noise.)

Yes. This is a highly specialized service and our team will explain it when we set up your campaign.

Some of our best ideas come from clients. Contact us here and we’ll discuss it with you.

Absolutely. Get in touch with our team here.

Yes. We have postcards for all the major holidays, plus a lot of the lesser-known ones, and even some “just because” topics, too. They’re the perfect way to let donors and prospects know you’re grateful for them any time of the year.

It is against the law to make a profit on U.S. Postage. If we are providing mailing services for you, we ask for the postage in advance and hold it in escrow. Any postage in excess is refunded.

If postage is paid by credit card, we will invoice you for the credit card fees. 

Microsoft Excel.

Important: Make sure all of the columns in the file are exactly the way you wish them to appear. That is, do not provide extra columns, and this even includes “record number” unless you wish that particular data to print on your mailer. For example, if you have a salutation column to be used (Mr. and Mrs. Jane Donor), make sure you do not have a “First Name” and/or “Last Name” column as well. This may sound complicated, but it’s not and we’ll guide you through it.

After a brief meeting, we’ll recommend topics. If you have any in mind, let’s discuss it.

We suggest staying away from esoteric topics such as annuity trusts, lead trusts, the generation skipping tax, etc. Donors who plan on such gifts are well-versed or already working with advisors. Mass marketing such gift plans leaves the impression that planned gifts are only for the wealthy. When in fact, they are for the average American.

In general, beneficiary designations are the gifts to focus on.

That’s our job. We know marketing, we know design, we know planned giving, and we know your prospects. We do it all: planning, content development, design, production – we’ll even drop the cards in the mail.

No need for endless meetings to develop your postcard. We have it down to a science.

If you have a large budget (and a team to back you up) to send out multiple yearly newsletters by following industry standards, by all means, continue with newsletters. If you only plan to send out one to two newsletters per year, you need to consider a new product with a higher ROI, Newslets, in addition to planned giving postcards.

Yes. Complete details are covered on this page.

Our “insider secrets” are here on this page (Nonprofit’s Guide to Planned Giving Marketing with Postcards).