Animal Welfare Mail Appeals Can Woo Millennials

As we talk with animal welfare fundraisers about mailing lists and targeting at the Animal Care Expo in New Orleans, we recall a cogent remark by Christine Barnes, senior director of donors services for the Humane Society of the United States. When asked by Fundraising Success Magazine to identify top trends for donor targeting/demographics in 2015, she stressed, "With the millennials entering the giving landscape, we need to adjust our communication styles to adapt." Since the millennials are known to be digital junkies, does that mean dropping direct mail in favor of online appeals, e-mail, social media and, of course, mobile marketing? We argue that would be a big mistake. The millennial cohort may respond at a lower rate to direct mail (14% of 18- to 34-year-olds said direct mail triggered their nonprofit giving compared with 25% of the 55+ crowd, per YouGov stats), but the millennial response to mail fundraising is still higher than their giving via other channels (9% for e-mail, 11% for social). Direct mail should stay in the fundraising mix to capture millennial donations, but the messaging style and content does need to change. Barnes emphasized the need for more visual communications, for more engaging storytelling, and for tighter copywriting that "engages the donor in as few words as possible." A recent NonProfit Hub post listed five ways to create marketing that motivates millennial: 1) engage with millennials on their own terms and ask them to donate in the way they like, so offer many donation channels; 2) leverage their social clout, so feature those social icons and scannable links on mail, too; 3) encourage participation/volunteering to create more loyal donors; 4) accept that millennials are impulsive on-the-go donors, not check writers, so mail can drive online giving, and e-mail should be optimized for mobile; 5) stay in touch beyond the holiday card to let them know the impact of their giving. For details and examples, go to http://www.nonprofithub.org/fundraising/understanding-motivates-millennials-give-npo/