How do you make a piece of mail feel personal when you’re sending it to thousands of people at once?
It doesn’t start with a name at the top of the page.
It starts with a story.
Not the organization’s story. But a real story—about a real person, a real family, a real moment.
Told simply. Honestly. The way you’d tell it to someone sitting across from you at the kitchen table.
Then this story is the spine that holds the entire campaign together.
Every version. Every line that changes. Every follow-up message.
It all grows from that one, human truth at the center.
And then… there’s the data. Because once you know the story, you need to understand the people receiving it. And their behaviour.
We segment based on their behaviour so that we can make it personal.
So that a brand-new donor gets a different variation from a long-time supporter. Same story, same mission, but a slightly different message that’s aligned with the behaviour we understand from the data — their experiences with you as an organization.
Large mail-outs aren’t just about making connections at scale. They can help you deepen existing connections, too.
At Kittiwake, we work from an inclusion data model rather than an exclusion model. For example, it’s quick, easy, and tempting to exclude all major gift donors from a data file because you’re working towards a gift, but mail can be a beautiful tool and touchpoint.
You can call your major gift donor and say, “This week, check your mailbox.. There’s a story coming your way that I think you’re going to love. It’s about xyz…” That’s a genuine and meaningful reason to reach out and connect and keep them involved.
And it works. We’ll dive into this more in our session “When Direct Response Does More Than Ask” at AFP NL and AHP Convene…
But the data and the story don’t end when the campaign begins. If you’re watching, the data can inform what needs to shift to make the most of the story. And the story can then influence stewardship.
They work together to build stronger relationships both within and beyond a direct response appeal. Because story and data are not two separate tactics.
They’re the same conversation.
People give to people, so the story has to be about people. And the data is what helps you tell that story to the right person, in the right way, at the right moment.
Which is exactly how you make individual connections at scale.
Mackenzie
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