This article originally appeared in Canadian FundRaiser.

Personalized address labels can be effective vehicles to bring in new donors. But they’re only cost-effective for large organizations that can buy supplies in bulk, and programs must be closely monitored to ensure their continued effectiveness.

Distributing labels brings in double the number of new donors over the number which would be garnered by a simple non-premium appeal, agree Gail Mikkelsen of Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and Gail Kostiuk of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. The dollar amounts may be lower, but the numbers of responses are higher.

Acquisitions, not renewals

“It’s not the money principally,” Mikkelsen says. “The purpose is to bring in new donors. It’s a costly program to set up initially, but the acquisitions offset the costs, and large quantities make it efficient.” (Heart and Stroke orders its supplies a year ahead and takes advantage of all pre-sorting techniques to reduce postal costs, so each addressee costs less than $1, including postage and the enclosed labels.)

“Labels are one of our most cost-effective means of generating funds,” says Kostiuk. “Through the program, we’ve more than doubled the numbers of our donors in the last few years.”

Both fundraisers cite telephoned comments from donors as proof of the success of their program. “We change our designs seasonally, so there’s always something interesting and different coming out,” says Mikkelsen. “We’re always getting phone calls asking when the new designs are coming. In our case, too, we get a lot of calls from stroke survivors who find the labels really useful in cases where they spare them from writing – in correspondence, as reminders on calendars, on baggage tags, and the like.”

Telephone feedback an important element of program

Similarly, Kostiuk reports that 25% of calls to the Society’s customer services department are from people who want to receive labels or want name corrections. “That’s a great way to clean your list,” points out Mikkelsen. “Someone calls to complain about their name being spelled wrong, we offer to come back to them with the correctly spelled name in the next mailing. Their name is now ours, not the list brokers, and 40% will come back as donors because they like the service.”

The Heart and Stroke Foundation will remove people from their labels-distribution prospect list if they fail to respond for three seasons, but may reintroduce them after a “rest” period. Similarly, if their regular donors are not responding for a while, they may include them in a premium mailing to try to spark new interest. They will also take names off their lists on request and will pass the request on to the Canadian Marketing Association if requested.

Costly, but a big response rate

Shona Nicholson-Fox of Nicholson-Fox Direct, who has undertaken some research into the use of labels, agrees with the practitioners that the high level of response rate is one of the most appealing aspects of this particular premium. Generally, she says, it’s at least twice as high as a non-label package, and sometimes three or four times. On the negative side, she says, many people who begin donating because they get labels, can only be retained as donors through the continued use of labels. This can become an expensive proposition, especially for smaller organizations, she points out.

“The main issue around labels is whether you’re getting a donation from someone or whether they are buying the labels,” says Nicholson-Fox. These are two very different reasons for responding to a prospect appeal. The first is philanthropic, the second is a purchase or guilt gift.” But then, “who knows what evil (or good) lurks in the hearts of men,” as The Shadow would say. Sometimes it seems that it’s nothing more than pure coincidence when you happen to push a prospect’s right buttons at the right time to open the wallet. More than likely, however, it’s a matter of making your luck, and a result of the process of working effectively at being in the right place at the right time.

Some of the other nonprofits which are using or have used labels to attract new donors include People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, World Society for the Protection of Animals, Canadian Wildlife Foundation, Ontario Wildlife Foundation, CARE Canada, and the Canadian Nature Federation.

For further information: Gail Mikkelsen, Senior Manager, Direct Marketing, Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario, 1920 Yonge St., 4th flr., Toronto ON M4S 3E2, 416/489-7100, fax 416/489-6885, gmikkel@hsf.on.ca, www.on.heartandstroke.ca; Gail Kostiuk, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, 250 Bloor St. E., Ste. 1000, Toronto ON M4W 3P9, 416/922-6065, fax 416/922-7538, info@mssociety.ca, www.mssociety.ca; Shona Nicholson-Fox, Nicholson-Fox Direct, 416/690-9968, fax 416/690-3780, Shona@NFDirect.com., www.NFDirect.com.