Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    • Archive

    Direct Marketing for Nonprofits: Essential Techniques for the New Era

     
    Why nonprofits can't cut corners on direct mail
    8/6/2001
    What really matters in direct mail? Author Kay Partney Lautman gets to the bottom of this question in her new how-to book targeted at nonprofits bent on grabbing the largest returns from direct mail fundraising. By focusing on five key areas—defining and carefully targeting your audience; creating a basic membership offer; writing the best copy; highlighting format and presentation; and offering targeted premiums and benefits—nonprofits can compete for the attention of busy, distracted donors. Lautman's brand of fundraising is not for the fainthearted: she counsels spending at least an initial $35,000 (to send out a mailing of 75,000 items). The hoped-for reward is increasing the donor list, not necessarily making a net profit on the first mailing. Lautman advises that even nonprofits can't afford to cut corners or costs.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College