Month: June 2025

When it comes to direct mail fundraising, sending the right direct mail package to the right prospect list isn’t just a nice-to-have — it can make the difference between a successful campaign and one where your appeal goes straight into the recycle bin.

If you’ve mailed both straight appeals and premiums all in an effort to boost response rate, you’re not alone. But with premiums coming at a higher cost and straight appeals declining in response rate, you’ve probably wondered who should get what in order to maximize responses. Using our Donor Science™ Package Preference model to identify who should be getting what package is the key to increasing your ROI and your impact.

Understanding Your Lists and Audience

A Straight Appeal List refers to groups of donors who support organizations based solely on their mission, rather than receiving an incentive or gift in return. These are individuals who respond to donation requests without promotional items. This indicates they feel close to the cause itself. Because of this, they have a higher lifetime value and therefore are more profitable to attract and retain. They may have a higher up-front cost to acquire, but the 12+ month ROI is better for the long-term health of the charity.

Conversely, a Premium Appeal List is composed of individuals who are motivated to give when presented with a tangible incentive—such as tote bags, calendars, or return address labels—alongside the donation request. These donors often view the premium as the key driver behind their decision to contribute, linking their support to the receipt of a gift rather than solely to the mission of the organization. Sometimes, the premium has an important role in getting your message seen by potential donors. Dimensional mail is a surefire way to get your mailpiece opened. But renewing premium donors can be expensive. Often, (but not always), they need to receive another incentive to give again, and the cycle continues. Their initial response often reflects a transactional approach to philanthropy. But premiums can also enhance the organization’s brand and provide a constant reminder of the charity when used by the recipient. They often have a lower up-front cost to acquire, but long-term value is also lower.  Herein lies additional value of the Package Preference models…identifying who can be converted to predominantly straight appeal communications successfully moving forward.

Both types of packages have a role to play in direct mail fundraising. Expanding the top of the donor funnel through both tracks provides the greatest opportunity to bring in more mid-level and major donors. Ultimately, using data to drive the optimal financial formula for your organization is the fastest and most effective path to prosperity.

Having a trusted list broker with advanced data and Ai abilities will help navigate the path to the correct list choices. 

The Role of Data Analytics

While knowing the source of your acquisition lists is a key to informing your package choices, it should be thought of as an important data point, but not the whole story. It’s important to use deeper and more nuanced donor analysis to fine-tune your strategy.

Oftentimes, individuals who have given to your non-premium campaigns are your best donors, because they’ve given in response to a straight appeal. This can be an indicator that they are “mission-driven.” Those who gave to premium offers, on the other hand, are sometimes less committed. Their giving may be more quid pro quo-driven, i.e. “you gave me a premium or a high-touch package – so I feel a sense of guilt to give you something back.”

With this in mind, you may acquire more donors with a Premium package, but not necessarily your best donors. In fact, premium packages tend to get a higher response, but the trade-off is that the average gift is much lower.

Integrating Donor Science™ and data analytics can significantly refine how you match the donors you’ve acquired with the right offers. Using a Package Preference model, you can analyze past campaign performances to better understand how to segment your file by package type. This analytical approach not only saves time and resources but also enhances the precision of your fundraising efforts.

That’s why it’s key to drill down deeper using Data Analytics.

The Package Preference model plays a critical role in optimizing campaigns by eliminating guesswork and maximizing efficiency. By analyzing donor behavior and scoring individuals based on their likelihood to respond to either a straight appeal or a premium, organizations can make confident, data-driven decisions. This approach allows organizations to increase response, lower costs, and create better long-term value. Rather than relying on random sampling or manual sorting, the model delivers precise segmentation that saves time and boosts return.

Custom modeling driven by Ai identifies which variables matter most, removing the need to manually interpret layers of donor data. By analyzing real-time donor signals and applying them to the model, organizations can act with confidence, targeting each segment based on what will drive the strongest response. This isn’t just refinement—it’s a smarter way to campaign.

It Works Every Time

Case Study: Using Renewal Package Preference Models to Fine-Tune Strategy

A national children’s health organization set out to better understand their donors and their motivation for subsequent giving. All donors were acquired with a coin and labels. Their question was simple: “Could they renew a portion of their active donor file without sending additional coins or other premiums?”

VeraData built two renewal models to identify premium and non-premium donors. The renewal audience was scored using both models. The premium package model created a 14% lift in response rate compared to the RFM segment: 3.89% to 4.42%.

The Renewal Non-Premium Model delivered similar value, with a 15% lift in response compared to the RFM segment, 1.32% to 1.51%. More importantly, the Non-Premium model was able to identify higher-dollar donors. The average gift increased from $16 to $30. These higher-dollar donors are now on a track to become better prospects for this organization’s mid-level program.

In the End, Let Data Lead the Way

Matching the right donors to the right direct mail package is more than a tactical step—it’s a strategic decision that can shape the success of your campaign. The old school of thought is that how someone is acquired is how they renew. We’ve learned through Ai and ML that’s not necessarily the case in every instance. There are segments of donors that don’t need additional premiums in order to renew their support. We can help you find them.

If you’ve ever poured your energy into a great direct mail appeal only to feel like the response was just okay, you’re not alone. But before you start testing other variables to improve response rate, there’s one smart tactic that’s often overlooked: the strategic second drop — also known as ReMail™.

When done well, ReMail™ can give your original appeal a second wind. It’s not just a repeat; it’s a second chance to be seen, read, and responded to. The key is knowing who to send it to so it feels relevant and warranted, not annoying.

The Why: Understanding the Impact

Let’s face it — mail gets missed. People are busy. The first time around, your envelope might have been buried in a pile, opened and forgotten, or set aside for later… and never returned to. ReMail™ puts your message back in front of those individuals who may have been interested but didn’t act.

It also adds urgency, which can move people from “I meant to give” to “I’m giving now.” In many campaigns, ReMail™ can lift total response by 30% – 50%.

The Who: Not Everyone Should be ReMailed

ReMail™ uses Donor Science™ and a refined scoring system to analyze how recipients responded to the first drop of a campaign, allowing you to zero in on the segment most likely to respond to a second mailing. This isn’t about simply resending your original package—it’s about identifying the top-performing slice of your list and adjusting the message to boost its appeal. Depending on how your initial drop performed, the ideal second-drop audience could be 20% or it could be 40%, it all depends on the results of the custom-built ReMail™ model and the associated scores. 

  
This data-backed approach ensures that your second touch feels intentional and well-timed, rather than repetitive. Simple tweaks to the control package, such as adding the words “Gentle Reminder” on the outer envelope, can add impact. If you sent a premium in the first campaign, do not send a second premium, but rather ask, “Did you receive our gift?”

ReMail™ campaigns routinely outperform the initial drop, helping nonprofits get more value from their acquisition investments and increasing response rates without the need to reinvent the entire campaign.

The When: Timing is Everything

So, when’s the right moment to drop that follow-up appeal? Too soon, and it can feel like you’re pestering donors. Too late, and the window of relevance might have passed.

A good rule of thumb is to send a ReMail™ about 2 to 4 weeks after the first drop. That gives enough space for your original message to breathe — and for people to realize they haven’t acted on it — without losing the thread entirely.

Also, think about what else is happening on the calendar. If you’re heading into a fiscal year-end, a match deadline, or a holiday giving season, lean into those dates in the timing and message.

The How: Refining Your Approach

To ensure your ReMail™ strengthens your fundraising strategy rather than dilutes it, consider tweaking elements of your package. The envelope, headline, or the call-to-action—each of these offers an opportunity to refresh your message and capture attention.

A redesigned envelope—perhaps with a bold color or unique size—helps it stand out instantly. Inside, updating your headline to focus on a new aspect of your message or a different story can draw renewed attention. Finally, adjusting your call-to-action adds variety; if the first appeal stressed urgency, the second might highlight progress already made, reinforcing how continued support drives results. These thoughtful changes signal that your message has something new to say, encouraging recipients to take another look and stay connected to your cause.

The Real: ReMail™ In Action

When one of our nonprofit clients came to us facing declining acquisition response rates, they knew it was time for a fresh approach. For FY25, they partnered with us to breathe new life into their donor acquisition efforts using our Donor Science ReMail™ strategy — a targeted, second-touch approach driven by eight years of campaign and responder data. Rather than defaulting to a traditional “send more” mindset, we let the data lead. Our ReMail™ model carefully identified which prospects were most likely to respond to a second mailing and prescribed the ideal volumes for both the initial and follow-up drops.

The results were immediate and impressive. The first drop of the fall campaign saw a 50% lift in response rate, while the second drop — powered by ReMail™ — brought in a 58% Year Over Year increase. With smarter outreach, the client didn’t just grow their donor file — they added 39% more new donors and saw a 58% jump in revenue. ReMail™ isn’t just about mailing again; it’s about mailing smarter. By focusing only on the people who are most likely to respond, our clients see better returns, stronger acquisition, and a clear edge in an increasingly competitive fundraising environment.

Avoiding the “Repeat” Trap

Your ReMail™ shouldn’t feel like you’re bugging the same people over and over. Done right, a ReMail™ strategy should differentiate between who responds to a second touch and who doesn’t. With the Donor Science ReMail™ model, you’re cutting out those who have already responded and those who aren’t likely to respond to another appeal. You’re cutting out the non-responders before anything goes in the mail.

Done thoughtfully, ReMail™ isn’t redundant — it’s strategic. It says to your audience, “This matters. We still need you.” And sometimes, all someone needs is that one more nudge.