Direct Mail Is Still Strongest Donation Motivator

Direct mail remains the best channel for prompting donations, outperforming social media and e-mail, according to the latest survey by global research company YouGov. The study found that 21% of Americans cited direct mail solicitations as the prompt for their most recent gift. Direct mail is particularly successful with the over-55 age group, with 25% making their last gift in response to direct mail, compared to only 14% of 18- to 34-year-olds. Lower income households also respond strongly to direct mail marketing, with 29% of those earning $40,000 or less responding to direct mail for their last donation, compared to only 18% of those earning $80,000+. In contrast, social media has yet to take off as a major giving prompt, with only 6% of adults responding for their last gift. However, social media is becoming a more significant motivator for the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, with 11% responding to social media for their last donation, compared to only 3% of those 55+. E-mail does a little better in motivating donors, with 10% of Americans saying it moved them to make their last gift. E-mail works especially well for charities supporting the arts, with 25% of their donors in the last 12 months saying they were particularly likely to respond to e-mail. For more detail, see the news story and release at http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/18/6010758/direct-mail-is-still-the-strongest.html