On June 13, Tension hosted a webinar as part of our ongoing “Lunch & Learn” series: “Best Practices for Your Direct Mail Campaigns to Boost Donor Engagement.” In this third webinar recap blog, we’ll focus on how to design for impact for a nonprofit audience. To watch the webinar in its entirety, please click here.
It’s estimated that people decide within about seven seconds of seeing it, whether they’ll open a piece of mail. Designing for impact is critical. But in the nonprofit sector, it requires walking a fine line between grabbing your audience’s attention and showing some restraint. You want your piece to stand out, but it shouldn’t look like you broke the bank to do it. Because above all else, your donors want to know that you’re using their gifts responsibly.
Luckily, as Mike Desmarais, National Sales Manager at Tension, explained in our recent webinar, there are some clever ways nonprofits can capture attention and build connections without raising concern among donors.
Direct Mail Design Tips for Nonprofits
- Rather than using expensive (or expensive looking) papers and treatments, try mixing bold imagery with simple materials.
- Design a mail piece that’s easy to navigate by ditching lengthy text for concise messaging and a clear call to action.
- Consider using a 6 x 9” envelope instead of a traditional #10. It’ll mail at the same rate but offers more room to display a powerful image or catchy tagline.
- Swap out stamps for a custom indicia to look more professional and incorporate your branding.
However you choose to move forward with your campaign, remember that the Tension Design Group can help you bring it to life with complimentary, expert advice.
Bonus Tips to Help Your Campaigns Convert
We caught up with Mike after the webinar to see if he had any other pieces of wisdom to share. Here are his answers to a few follow-up questions.
What’s the single-most important thing to keep in mind when designing for impact?
- A strong call to action is critical. So is knowing your audience so you can craft a compelling message with your segmentation strategy.
For those nonprofits that have never tried segmenting their audiences before, what’s the easiest way to get started?
- Testing! You can begin by trying a different message or outgoing package to see how they perform. Tracking donor responses here is absolutely critical, though. Otherwise, you have no way of knowing how the different strategies worked.
What are some of the best ways nonprofits can streamline the giving process?
- Developing a multi-channel approach will allow you to reach your audience in a variety of ways. Consider using a mix of direct mail, email, personalized webpages, personalized online giving pages, text messaging and including QR codes on all communication vehicles.
To learn more about how Tension can help you craft personalized communications by understanding your donors better, check out our second blog from this series.
Work with Tension
Crafting the perfect campaign for your distinct audience takes careful planning and creativity. Whether you’re looking to capture prospects or re-engage existing donors, Tension can help you reach your objectives by offering expertise in design, mailing and production, printed products and more—we can even handle the entire process if you’d like! Contact us today to get started.
