Jeff Brooks at the Donor Powered Blog, lists these 7 surprising facts about direct-response fundraising.

I use these factoids all the time in my thinking about mailings so I thought I’d list Jeff’s 7 here:

  1. Blank carrier envelopes usually out-perform envelopes with teasers.
  2. Longer letters perform better. Usually. There are exceptions.
  3. The most-read part of a fundraising letter is the P.S.
  4. Typos improve response. I can’t prove this, but it seems to be true.
  5. Mail recipients spend more time looking at the back of the envelope than the front.
  6. Religious people give more to non-religious causes than non-religious people. Religious people give more to everything.
  7. The most powerful predictor that a donor will give is the recency of her previous gift.

If you’re not reading Jeff’s blog, you’re missing out. Check it out: Donor Powered Blog.

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