Direct Mail Fundraising in 2024 – What the Benchmarks Tell Us
We know you’ve been patiently waiting, and it’s finally here – the 2024 Canadian Direct Mail Benchmarks Report is now ready for you to download and discover! The Cole’s Notes, you ask? TLDR: This year’s benchmarks are relatively flat, with minor swings up or down for the majority of indicators. Direct mail fundraisers, you’ve weathered the […]
Why Do Benchmarks Matter to YOU?
Soon my fellow Good Workers and I will be releasing this year’s Canadian Direct Mail Benchmarks Report. As I was looking a draft of the report, two questions came to mind: Why are benchmarks important in the first place? Do fundraisers like you and me use benchmarks as much as we could (and should)? Today, […]
How To Analyze Your Direct Mail Performance in 2021
So, how did your direct mail program do this year? That’s the question that’s on every mail fundraiser’s mind as we head into the final stretch of year-end. Gifts are being processed, cheques are being opened, digital campaigns are being scheduled – and through it all, we’re watching to see: Will we hit our targets […]
Let Your Donors be the Jury
I’ve been a partner at Good Works for 25 years now. But, before I became a Good Worker, I was a client – twice! Back in the 1990s, I learned direct mail fundraising from the experts at Good Works. There was one lesson they taught me that stands above all the others – and that […]
My Big Benchmarks Surprise
Poor direct mail. It’s been the unpopular cousin of other fundraising channels in many people’s minds for years now. To many fundraisers, direct mail fundraising had its heyday back in the 1980s and 1990s, but then started its long, steady decline toward oblivion. ‘Cutting edge’ thinkers and fundraising pundits predicted that direct mail would just […]
Tell Them “Why” – Insights from the Global Online Fundraising Scorecard
I have a feeling I’m on the cusp of a dreaded parenting rite of passage with my almost 2-year-old: the “why” phase. (For you seasoned parents mocking me for calling it a phase, please just chuckle to yourselves at my naivete instead of bursting my bubble!) As a parent, I’m not looking forward to the […]
Trust Your Gut: Five Times The Fundraiser Is Always Right
If you’re a fundraiser, you’ve likely encountered someone within your organization (or at a dinner party!) who thinks of fundraising not as a profession, but rather, a fun job that any friendly person can do. I mean, what’s so hard about asking people for money…right? What these well-meaning people don’t know is that good fundraisers […]
When It Comes To Direct Mail – Does The Size Of Your Program Matter?
It’s officially summer vacation season, so if you haven’t yet gotten your hands on this year’s All-Canadian Direct Mail Benchmarks study, I’ll forgive you! (But it is a rather good poolside read, if you want to download it here.) We gathered data from 52 incredible organizations across the country, and uncovered Canadian-specific benchmarks for things […]
Welcome to 2020 DM Benchmarks!
It’s here! I’m super excited to finally share with you the 2020 Canadian Direct Mail Benchmarks Study. And you can download it – for free – right here. (SOME OF) THE HIGHLIGHTS Direct mail revenue is GROWING in Canada! Direct mail revenues grew in 2019 by more than 5% from the previous year. And average […]