The new way to fundraise? Trust your mail.

So, have all the cool kids moved to digital?

Is AI going to replace human communication? (Don’t get me started on that one…)

And is mail so yesterday?

Sometimes it seems like that’s what I’m hearing. And I often feel like a grandma, warning people not to move everything online. But grandma or not, I’ll keep doing it.

I know the arguments:

• Yes, email is cheaper to send.
• Yes, online donations can be easier for data entry.
• Printers, postage, and writing take time and more time and money. So what’s not to like?

Well, lots.

Here’s the thing – it’s not about what’s easier for you to send. It’s about what’s easier for your donors to read and respond to. What do they say they prefer? And even more telling, what do they respond to? For most donors, that will still be mail. Mail that feels like it was created by a human.

Direct mail works hard.

Direct mail is still the boss. And donors acquired through the mail will give via other channels in the future. (Which is good for keeping them around.)

It has a better response rate.

People may interact better with it.

This piece from The Drum also reports on DMA findings – in this case, that people are more likely to deal with mail right away than with email. So, if your email is hitting inboxes and then being ignored, is the lower expense worth it?

Touch is important to how we make decisions.

I read an article recently about research on the role of touch in our charitable decisions. If touching a rough piece of sandpaper triggers our empathy, making it more likely we’ll give, what about just touching a piece of paper?

Paper conveys emotion better.

Roger Dooley offers this study: Print vs. Digital: Another Emotional Win for Paper. Researchers found that paper affects our brains differently than digital. In the study, paper created more emotional responses a week after viewing than digital ads did. And you know what emotion means to successful fundraising, right?

Not everyone is on board with the digital revolution.

Older people – even those who have an email account and check it – may still feel more comfortable with a piece of mail. It’s what they know and trust.

A well-done letter doesn’t feel like a sales brochure. It feels like a real letter – what you’d get from a friend. Recipients know you took more trouble to send that mail piece.

And donors who make their gift online may be moved to give because of a direct mail appeal.

Even if your donors are much younger, don’t write off direct mail just yet. The Eleventy Group notes the DMA report found a “big jump in response to mail pieces by 18-21 olds (rising from 4.1% in 2012 to 12.4% in 2013”.

The good news? You don’t have to choose sides.

Mail works even better when it’s part of an overall plan. Use it with email, social media, a good website, and donation page – and even the phone if you can manage it.

Email is good for up-to-the-minute news. It can be personalized easily. And you can track opens and clicks. Great information to have!

But direct mail can be held in your hand. It can be pinned to the fridge or left on top of the stack of bills. It can feel so much more personal. And it’s still doing the heavy lifting!

Direct mail works well for donor newsletters, better than an email newsletter. And it can also handle high-touch, high-value solicitations in a way email cannot.

Direct mail may feel so yesterday in our highly-connected world.

But look closer and you may be surprised.

Digital-only might make your organization look like one of the cool kids. But more donations?

The sexy new way to fundraise? It looks really good on you.