Giant fundraising works

Here’s a direct mail piece that just showed up in my mailbox:

It’s a lapsed win-back) piece from the Environmental Defense Fund. (Sorry friends at EDF! I lapsed.)

It’s huge: 14″ wide by 10″ (that’s about 36 x 26 cm). (It wouldn’t fit in my scanner!)

As near as I can tell, the contents are the same as their previous lapsed/acquisition control … that mailed in a small (monarch size) format. It shares the high level of personalization and the downplaying of the organization (logo and return address are on the back). The contents inside are pretty much the same too.

I don’t know if this is a new control, or if I’ve received a test.

But I do know that giant-sized direct mail can work very well.

It may not be affordable unless you are mailing very large quantities. But it certainly has power worth investigating.

The first battle you have to win in fundraising is getting their attention. If recipients barely notice your piece in their mailbox, you don’t stand much of a chance of getting it opened. Much less a response.