Nonprofit Direct Mail & Email Services
Cost-effective and efficient data-driven communications
When it comes to fundraising, your nonprofit organization needs an integrated strategy that combines direct mail and email marketing (as well as other channels, such as social media or telephone). The goal is to reach past, current and prospective donors where they are and when they are ready.
You need direct mail and email appeals, thank you letters, impact reports, annual reports, and reminder postcards—on time and on budget. You need effective communications focused on renewals, monthly and year-end giving, lapsed donors and major donor fundraising. You want to maximize donor acquisition.
Five Maples can help you with all of the above!
Our nonprofit direct mail services will ensure your donors are grateful and you raise more money.
Our team specializes in all aspects of direct mail. From data processing and analysis to donor segmentation and choosing the perfect envelope for your package. From graphic design of your materials and writing perfect copy that will grab your donors' attention to printing and mailing.
Likewise, our email marketing services will ensure your digital communications stand out in your donors' inboxes. They are designed to make the biggest impact, from the subject line to calls to action, and whether they are read on a computer, tablet or smartphone.
The result will be a measurable increase in donation collection, as well as the reinforcement of your donors' commitment to your nonprofit organization.
Want to learn more about our Nonprofit Direct Mail & Email services?
Let us know when it's a good time to reach you and we'll give you a call.
Grace Cottage Hospital has been a Five Maples client for over twelve years, and we’ve never once been disappointed in their expert service, professionalism, and rapid response time. We’ve always been treated as if we’re their only customer!
They bend over backwards to get the job done, and to get it done correctly and fast. Everyone at Five Maples knows the business, and they know it well.
— Andrea E. Seaton, VP, Planning & Development, Grace Cottage Hospital
Five Maples Coding and Merging capabilities for all the Segments in your list.
Effective communication with variable data merging
You need an easy way to communicate with the different groups in your donor base, centered on their interests and their relationship with you. You’re in luck – we’re segmentation experts. Starting in copywriting and carrying through design, data processing, variable data printing and mailing, our staff and equipment handle the most complex list and version segmentation. And it’s probably one of the main reasons you’re working with us!
Variable versus Version
When communicating with your donors, you will get the best results if the wording is slightly tailored to the relationship each donor has with you. This is achieved with variable sentences.
Appeal and Constituent Coding
We recommend including not only an identifying <Appeal Code> for each of your mailings, but also creating <Package Codes> to further identify your donors’ status and relationship with your organization.
The many ways we ensure the right donor gets the right version and right variables.
Project planning with your dedicated Five Maples Project Manager. Your Project Manager is an expert in segmentation and will brainstorm with you the right segmentation for each fundraising appeal. Having a Project Manager who works with you for multiple years means they become deeply familiar with your organization, your constituents, your data and your voice. Before proceeding with the project they make sure every detail is discussed and agreed upon.
Sophisticated Software and Coding. Our data process software is customized by us specifically to handle the complexities of all that variable printing and mailing. It’s no surprise to hear that our design software is Adobe Cloud’s InDesign. What you probably don’t know is that we run our merges directly from InDesign using Smartstream, the industry leading merge software from Hewlett Packard. That eliminates who raft of potential problems or errors.
Extensive Proofing is Essential. Each mailing is proofed by the data processer, the project manager and a third independent proofer before the proofs come to you. We check the wording, grammar, line breaks, variable fields and versions. We compare the data in the lists and the coding to the proofs. We create and send to you for proofing as many variations as are needed so that everything is checked before printing starts.
A camera system to ensure 100% accurate insertion of letters and reply devices into the right envelope. All that effort could be cancelled by putting the wrong letter or reply device in the wrong envelope. So, let us tell you about our computer vision system.
Presort Sequence Number
Each record receives a presort number and this number is printed on every variable piece we need to match.
It looks like this: “^5”
Example of use of presort numbers (click on the picture to download the PDF)
Vision System
Our production machines have cameras that read the presort sequence numbers on each piece and ensure all pieces being inserted have matching numbers as the materials are going into the letters. If the match isn’t 100% perfect, the machine stops immediately so the operator can remedy the problem. Watch this short video to see it in action. With Five Maples you can be sure the mailing is perfect.
Example of Matching Presort Sequence Numbers
Schedule a Consultation to discuss our
Direct Mail & Email services for Nonprofit Organizations
Let us know when it's a good time to reach you and we'll give you a call
We are thrilled with the results we’re getting with the help of Five Maples. With a varied donor pool at The Putney School we sometimes segment our mailings into more than 20 different groups.
The Five Maples production team does an amazing job of helping us keep it all straight and delivers it when and how we need it.
I’m always impressed with the care and attention to detail they give to every step in the process.
— Carlotta Cuerdon, Director of Annual Giving, The Putney School
Knowledge Base
Fundraising Letters: Shorter is Not Always Better
How Ben Franklin Helped Drive a 600% Increase in a Single Email Appeal
Letters Raise More Money Than Self-Mailers
Neuroscience Reveals Why Direct Mail is More Effective Than Digital
New study: Donors Prefer Email, But More Respond to Letters
Studies Still Show: Direct Mail Donors Have Higher Lifetime Value
Two Page Fundraising Letters That Outperformed Expectations
In Fundraising, Direct Mail Still Outperforms Email. Here’s Why
Why You Should Ask Your Donors for $100
“We use [Five Maples] as a fulfillment service for our annual Garden Calendar. We chose [Five Maples] after years of inadequate service by other companies and have been extremely happy with the great work they do for us. From the beginning, Gary worked with us to find out what our needs were, how to avoid the problems we had previously experienced, and how to do the job in the most economical way possible.
I especially appreciate the brainstorming [Five Maples] does on our behalf, whether it’s providing suggestions on how to manage ordering and mailing our calendar better or expanding the scope of what we’re doing. Everyone on the staff I’ve dealt with has been wonderful – courteous, knowledgeable, and prompt problem solvers. The number of complaints I receive from our customers since working with [Five Maples] has dropped dramatically, which makes my work life easier!”
Administrative Assistant, UMass Extension
Landscape, Nursery, and Urban Forestry Program
Five Maples offers honest, straight-forward service. Thanks to their team, Norwich has increased donor engagement and direct mail response rate. Five Maples is committed to producing the best product within our budget.
I am grateful for their entire team and highly recommend Five Maples to anyone looking to optimize their mailing results.
— Reed Curry, Director of Class Giving, Norwich University
Five Maples helps fundraisers save time, raise more money, and enjoy doing it!
We've got your back! Give us a call today for a free consultation.
Contact Sarah Gnerre, CFRE, VP of Philanthropy, at 1-802-387-3091 or sarahg@fivemaples.com
Or schedule a consultation and we will call you.