October 8, 1998 | Read Time: 1 minute
Many direct-mail innovations are complicated and ex-pensive to undertake. But sometimes a simple cosmetic alteration can significantly increase fund-raising results.
At Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York, for example, a change in typeface gave the organization’s appeals an up-to-date look.
In a test conducted last year, the charity sent out a four-page letter to 64,000 of its current donors. Half of the donors got letters printed in Courier, the typeface regularly used by the charity because it produces a letter that looks like it came from a typewriter. The other half received appeals printed in Times Roman, a newspaper-like face. The two solicitations were otherwise identical.
The charity got contributions from 1,478 of the donors who received the Times Roman letter, 110 more than the number who responded to the Courier letter.
The Times Roman appeal also yielded a higher average gift, $67.33 compared with $65.06, and it generated $10,000 more in net proceeds than the Courier letter did.
Based on the results, the charity now uses Times Roman in virtually all of its solicitations.
Rob Ornstein, manager of direct marketing, says that as personal computers have replaced typewriters, the Courier typeface “looks antiquated.” He adds: “Our donor base is younger and more savvy than the traditional direct-mail donor profile. Times Roman looks more contemporary.”
For more information, contact Rob Ornstein, Manager of Direct Marketing, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, 119 West 24th Street, Fifth Floor, New York 10011; (212) 367-1536.
