Five Acquisition Tests: Can You Guess the Winner? Published in FundRaising Sucess® March, 2007 By Willis Turner willis@huntsinger-jeffer.com

In theory, theory and practice are the same thing. In practice, they are not.Yogi Berra. Or Albert Einstein. Or someone else.

Sometimes when we test packages, we ’re actually testing theories.

Because direct mail fundraising is such a curious blend of art and science, we rely a lot on theories and suppositions to develop our creative strategies. The problem is that sometimes we rely on them for so long that we begin to think of them not as theories but as rules.

And as one of the old greats said to me years ago, “Rules? What rules? There are no rules in fundraising. There’s only what worked for one organization in one set of circumstances – and might work again.”

Can someone else’s success really be your success too? We’d all like to think so. That’s why we pore over case studies and flock to conference seminars that lay out success stories as if they were blueprints.

But if experience teaches us anything, it’s that direct mail is counterintuitive. Except when it’s not. So put on your best DM thinking cap and see if you can guess the winners in the following head-to-head tests:

The Test: 2-color vs. 4-color Acquisition Carrier

Four color gets attention. It gets you noticed and gets your package opened. That’s what everyone says, right? We wanted to be sure, so we tested a 4-color version of this environmental group’s 2-color control.

The Winner: Yes, 4-color does lift response. Sort of. Sometimes. In this case the more elaborate carrier did show a slight lift in response. Unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome the additional printing cost. The 2-color may not have been as handsome, but it remained the control for several years.

The Test: Short vs. Long Acquisition Letter

Letter length is one of those issues about which everybody seems to have a strong opinion. Many old-school fundraisers insist that longer letters give you credibility, and room to give more details about your programs. Younger experts say that nobody reads long letters anymore. The old guys counter that it doesn’t matter whether anyone reads the letter. It’s the appearance of having a lot to say that matters. And back and forth they go. We put the argument to the test with this national organization.

The Winner: Prospects responded better to the long letter. But it’s important to note that, while this client was a large organization, they are not a household name. So the extra copy was needed to fully explain their mission and programs. You need to test this yourself because we also see shorter letters winning in some categories – especially for well-known organizations.

The Test: Labels vs. Invoice

How many times have you heard someone say: “Mailing labels are like negative political ads. Everyone hates them, but everyone uses them because they always work.” Well, maybe not always. This well-known organization tested labels head-to-head with a simple invoice-style package.

The Winner: The simple, straightforward, low-cost invoice. It won hands-down, in response, in average gift, and in cost to raise a dollar.

The Test: Labels vs. Lunch bag

Another label test. But where the above example tested labels against a simple, low cost package, this one pitted them against something more elaborate: The organization’s breakthrough “paper bag” control.

The Winner: While the specialty paper bag may seem like an expensive luxury, the results were clear: Response was nearly double that of the labels. Average gift was 32 percent higher than the labels. And the cost to raise a dollar? Not even close. The labels’ cost was more than triple the “expensive” paper bag.

The Test: Plain & Simple vs. Fancy Schmancy

Think your control package is too dull? Or maybe someone thinks you just need to spruce it up. That was the case when we were challenged to find out how this animals rights group’s short and simple control (left) would do against a “nicer” (and more expensive) package. The test on the right featured a smartly designed bookmark in an attractive 6x9 print-and-convert carrier, which was carefully crafted to stand out in the mail and touch the hearts of dog lovers.

The Winner: The test got attention all right. The response and average gift were almost as good as the control. But at more than triple the cost to raise a dollar, this so-called high-end package went straight to the doghouse.

Lessons Learned?

Labels, long letters, short letters, expensive and low-cost packages. If there’s one thing you can rely on, it’s that conventional wisdom is unreliable. Except, that is, for the one piece of conventional wisdom that really has stood the test of time: When in doubt… TEST!

©2006 Huntsinger & Jeffer, Richmond, VA 
Willis Turner is a senior writer at Huntsinger & Jeffer in Richmond, VA.
You can e-mail him at willis@huntsinger-jeffer.com