We too see that while direct mail continues to be the primary giving vehicle for most current donors, there is huge value in multi-channel givers, and that the rise in online giving, although it may not be as much as some people expected, is nonetheless exhilarating.

As we all know, recent studies show that if you have an email address on file for an offline donor it makes a positive difference in their giving. Reinforcing the need to synchronize channels, coordinate consistent messaging, and tailor content to each appropriate medium. Online fundraising doesn’t replace direct mail but reinforces the repetition of the message.

Our concerns about direct mail fundraising are less about any immediate generational behavior change than about technical problems, such as the financial health of the postal service, increases in list and printing costs, and continued media attention on the rare fundraiser abuses rather than the truly amazing work that most nonprofits accomplish, even in the midst of recession.

Judy Maneval, Harry Lynch, Paul Habig

We’ll be linking to you from thedirectmarketingvoice.com

I just mailed millions of pieces of direct mail in 2009—yes, direct mail—to acquire new members for our zoo clients across America.

Who was our target audience? It’s “young” women with children under six years old! And while I may be showing my age, I think that women under 40 constitute this younger demographic that we keep hearing are non-direct mail responsive.

The result?

On average, response rates to these direct mail acquisition campaigns are up 20%. Most zoos are netting money. In fact, two zoos are in positions to net over $500,000 from their spring direct mail membership campaigns this year.

Of course, where possible, we couple direct mail packages with email blasts. We also worked with our zoo clients to launch aggressive social networking campaigns, encouraging them to blog, post and tweet the offers to their own pages.

In fact, the offer went viral on a few local mommy blogs this spring. And we helped them spread the word by providing our clients with an email that had a special “Friends & Family” offer.

Our campaigns are also driving people to join online (and well over 35% are doing just that!).

Honestly, we don’t consider our acquisition campaigns to be mail-only. They are clearly multi-channel campaigns designed to get the message out in different mediums and allow for fulfillment in a number of ways. However, they are built on a strategic direct mail campaign platform.

Every year we test whether or not we can eliminate the mail component of these acquisition campaigns. It’s pretty clear; we can’t.

Our 25-40 year-old moms still respond, in big numbers, to direct mail packages. (As a matter of fact, we tested mailing postcards instead of full mail packages, but the traditional DM campaigns are achieving response rates two times those of the postcards.)

Now, I’m not suggesting that a zoo membership offer is the same as a pure philanthropic donation. There is real and perceived family value with a zoo membership.

What I do know, however, is that younger audiences read and, through one channel or another, respond to a great offer received in the mail.

But let me also point out that we what we predict has always come true, though we often get the year wrong. That is, when we predicted the demise of newspaper classifieds back in 2001, our percentage estimates were almost exactly correct, but hit that mark in 2007, not 2005 as we had predicted.

And finally, regarding biases, I must point out to Chuck that a boatload of our clients back in 2001 were newspapers who reacted much the same way you did about our Direct Mail numbers. And in 2008 we had a lot of Yellow Pages clients who read our report entitled, “Say Goodbye to Yellow Pages.” How stupid for a research firm to slap around its client base! Today, we continue to have those customers.

I suggest that Chuck brush up on history. When a new medium comes along, other traditional media decline. Newspapers started their decline in the 1920s when radio came along. Radio saw a huge decline when TV came along 30 years later. And everything is in a bit of a decline in part due to the economy, but also due to the glimmer of the Internet as an efficient advertising medium. In the history of electronic media, which by the way is more than 100 years old, no medium (save the telegraph, which took 100 years to go away) has ever disappeared. But you WILL see a very significant decline in Direct Mail.

Chuck should stop being mad. It will increase his blood pressure and stress levels and cause his hair to fall out and veins to form on his nose. He should realize that projections are not facts, but merely opinions based on facts. Our opinions at Borrell Associates are based on an intricate series of facts and scenarios and proven mathematical models, and I welcome the opportunity to debate those facts at any time.