Variable Data for Non-Profit Organizations

To start today’s post, I have to admit that I am a bit of a procrastinator. There is a non-profit organization for which I regularly donate and attend fundraising events. This non-profit, like many others send regular mailings looking for donations. Well, I received a request from them in the mail a few weeks back and I must first give some details. The letter was very well written and tugged at my heart as it described the tragic story of one of their members. I read the story and thought, there has to be an answer. At the bottom of the letter, was a message looking for donations followed by a form to be filled out. All in-all this ended up as one 8.5” x 14” sheet of paper that included a tear-off on the bottom for the donation. I set the piece aside and 2-weeks later it continues to sit in my to-do pile. Why did I not act on something that I feel strong about? Well, to pass the blame a little, they did not make it easy enough for me. First, the donation form was not perfed on the page so I would have to track down some scissors to cut the donor portion off. Second, and most important, the donor part was completely blank. I need to enter my name, address and information requested. As a past donor, I think the form should already be populated and I just need to include a check. Third, there was no return envelope. I wouldn’t expect the postage to be paid, but at least stick an envelope in so I don’t have to write the address on it. If the organization would have went the extra mile and merged my information on the sheet it would have made it much easier for a potential donor to make an impulse decision.

This is another way to use variable data printing. Make the transaction as simple as possible and the results will improve. A great cause can suffer from lackluster results if they do not execute their campaigns efficiently. Velocity can help with the variable data solution, but we can also take this further with the use of PURLs and credit card processing to make the transaction very quick and painless.