Originally Posted in August, but Worth Repeating: End of year mailings with a golden-embedded twist.

The time to plan direct mail production is now, if your organization relies on a significant amount of seasonal revenue late in the year. Place a tickler file note for yourself for your spring mailer. Rinse and repeat right after April 15, 2021.

A. Drop Date - 2020 election mail peaks on November 2. Have your completely designed and executed mailing ready to drop 2-3 days later.

B. Messaging - Remind prospects how your group makes an impact on the communities you serve; tell the story of how you shifted gears in response to the pandemic--they’ll want to know.

C. Integration - Develop a calendar that integrates web updates, email appeals, and social media. Keep in mind that each quarter, a sizable percentage of your donors and followers will have change their email address, mailing address, and/or social media preferences. Adjust by using multiple channels and newly preferred means for accessing media.

D. Analytics, the Gold Twist - Collect, measure, and analyze results of your integrated campaign (web, email, social, direct mail). Larger organizations are using text messaging, with some success. Use these findings to inform future asks.