Should You Be Concerned About USPS "Marketing Mail?"

Recently the United States Post Office made a decision to change the classification that was referred to as “standard mail” to "marketing mail." This is a topic of some concern among nonprofits because anything that was referred to as direct-mail that was marked with the word "standard" will now read "marketing." The current thinking is that more recipients will throw out the mail because of the change in labeling.

Titles Speak Louder Than Copy

Every week presents another opportunity to hone my marketing skills doing something I find extremely difficult - writing. Whether for gift officers or donors, there is always an article or marketing communication beckoning to be created or revised. It's not easy for many reasons: finding the inspiration, determining the message and tone, reinventing new ways to say the same thing, but that is to be expected. Isn't that a marketer’s job?

Six Email Myths You Should Know

There are over 4.35 billion email accounts and it is predicted to reach 5.59 billion by 2019, a growth of more than 26%. Here are some other fun statistics on email: Over 122 billion (122,500,453,020) emails are sent every hour. The average number of emails an office worker receives each day is 121. The open rate for email in North America is 30.6%. The percentage of email that is spam is 49.7%. Email marketing is thriving throughout the non-profit and for-profit worlds. This includes the growing number of multi-generational mobile users who check email on their phones daily. Statistics like these have convinced many planned giving marketers that email is essential for donor lead generation.

The Year of Life Income Gifts

Next year is going to be the year of life income gifts, or actually, it will probably be the next four years. When I read a recent New York Times headline, Plans for Uncertain Times: What do you still control?, I thought they had received a gift annuity mailing! It’s clear that this is a message that will be relevant for a long time.