Charitable organizations thrive on the donations of the general public in order to further their causes, and these can be seen as another form of sales which benefits from printed direct mail marketing. You have to attract attention and be able to sustain it long enough to solicit at least one donation but repeat donors are always better. Currently, charitable organizations receive charity discounts for their mailing needs, but this may change in the future as it remains a heated issue in Congress. However, these following strategies of paper printing in direct mail marketing will continue to serve your charity well.
QR codes – One of the easiest ways to benefit from direct mail marketing is with the advent of QR codes. These bar codes, which are scannable with smartphone applications, can electronically direct potential donors to your website or other informational links. The best part about this strategy is that individuals can immediately jump from your paper advertising to a means of donating within seconds.
Event tickets – All charities can benefit from special events whether they be balls, speaking engagements, sporting competitions, art shows, etc. The ability to trade cash for physical, paper tickets remains vital for this purpose.
Banners – Within the events, or even your charitable organization’s headquarters, there are always innumerable opportunities to display signage. Cross-promotion is a very smart way to partner with other businesses to further each other’s causes. Let your charity sponsor a high school football game and hang a charity banner in the end zone, or invite a motor vehicle corporation to donate a large sum to your charity and feature their brand in a banner advertisement at one of your auction events.
Flyers – This is an important resource for all charities. Soliciting donations requires visibility so that the general public believes that you are a legitimate organization—if a potential donor has never heard of your charity then they will be much less likely to donate money. If you distribute flyers through direct mail marketing or by hand then you can put out a bulk of information in an attractive and inexpensive way.
Booklets – Booklets allow charitable organizations to compile a substantial amount of information on print material that looks and feels professional and very well-put together. Charities that are soliciting very big sums of money or that are operated by large corporations or state organizations often benefit from going beyond a one page flyer—this is especially true for causes that are very heavy on information. For instance, soliciting donations for medical research often requires an explanation of the procedure or treatment itself. This can be made easier through pages of diagrams, photographs, definition lists, or quotes and excerpts from medical texts. Booklets are perfect for this option.
Charitable organizations can use printing for either their direct mail marketing needs, for in-house advertising, or for specific events. When charities combine the competitive pricing of online printers like Conquest Graphics with the charity discounts through the Post Office, traditional paper printing becomes an incredibly cost effective and efficient way of driving up donations and furthering their respective causes.