Small and startup nonprofits don’t have money to burn. You’re sweating to eke out your mission on a tight budget. You read about big operations raking in millions–that boggles your imagination. Here you are struggling to keep the lights on!
Perhaps you feel a bit betrayed that raising money seems so hard. After all, your cause is great, important for the world. Who wouldn’t be moved to donate?
Startups often face this cold reality. When telling folks about their plans, everyone cheered warmly. But after the launch, cheers didn’t translate into checks.
So you plug away raising funds, but doing so as cheaply as possible. After all, you need all the money you’ve got to help poor people.
Enter the internet! I’ve seen small nonprofits try to raise money electronically. They craft a compelling e-newsletter, install a “Donate Now” button and . . . wait.
They keep waiting. . . . Some gifts trickle in. Yeah! But revenue hardly matches demand for services.
That’s because you’re missing a robust monthly snail mail campaign. You read correctly. Yes, s-mail. Though still the best way to raise support, some mall nonprofits avoid it like a plague because, well, it’s lots of work and costs lots more than throwing up an electronic offer.
This just in: e-fundraising alone may be penny wise but is dollar foolish. I call it the e-mistake.
“But some raise millions on the internet!” you object. Sure, if, like the politicians, you have millions visit your site and on your email list. For them, a hundred-thousand
$10 gifts means a million bucks. For your operation, not so much. In a millisecond your cyber-appeal gets clicked away forever into the abyss of cyberspace.
This may change, but for now nothing beats drumming up grassroots support like a well-produced, hard-copy newsletter sent the old-fashioned way. I’ve read that even the millennials are getting jazzed over getting real mail for a change. But it is certainly the case for the Greatest Generation and Boomers–we respond best to an appeal we can hold in our hands, leaf-through in our lazyboys, save on the kitchen counter to glance at again. And to send our check or credit card info safely and securely in an enclosed, self-addressed envelope—especially larger amounts—still feels best to us.
That being said, s-mail needs to arrive monthly. Don’t expect once or twice a year to make any difference. That would be a waste of precious nonprofit funds. Monthly appeals,
however, have a cumulative effect that pays off.
Of course, there are mailings and there are mailings. Some deliver better results than others. But don’t hire a company to do your campaigns for you. 
No need to spend a fortune for fantastic results with real mail.
But that’s more than I can get into in one blog.
For now, believe me when I say there’s no shortcut to effective fundraising. So don’t miscalculate your revenue with a costly e-mistake. Without s-mail your nonprofit will likely stay small. Which would be too bad for so many who desperately need your services.
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