Direct Mail
Direct mail, managed end to end.
CBA manages direct-mail programs from strategy and creative through data, production, postage and results analysis, so your team has one partner accountable for all of it.
The programs we run.
Most of our direct-mail work falls into four programs. They share audiences and data, so what we learn in one carries into the others.
Acquisition
Prospect lists and modeled audiences, tested packages and offers, and onboarding built to turn a first gift into a second one.
Renewal and membership
Segmented renewal series timed to the giving anniversary or membership cycle, coordinated with email and digital ads.
Appeals
Year-end, seasonal and special appeals, written and designed around the reason to give now.
Lapsed-donor reinstatement
Reactivation packages for supporters who have stopped giving, including a reinstatement control that has continued to win tests for close to 25 years.
Strategy, creative and testing.
Packages build on decades of testing, and every mailing is planned to teach us something for the next one.
Strategy and planning
Program calendar, audience plan, package architecture, budget and the testing agenda for the year.
Copy and design
Writers and designers who specialize in mission-driven organizations, working alongside the team running the channels.
Testing and optimization
Structured tests of package, offer, segment and timing, with results carried into the next mailing.
Segmentation and personalization
Recency, frequency, giving history and modeled scores, with variable copy, ask strings and reply devices.
Production and fulfillment
From press proof to post office.
We coordinate the vendors, schedules and quality control that get the work out accurately and on time. We also take on production on its own, when you have the piece and need it produced.
Stand-alone production management
Your mailing or printed piece, produced for you, even when CBA is not running the campaign, using our vendor relationships and production experience.
Offset and digital printing
Offset and digital printing through our network of print partners, matched to each job's quantity, timeline, personalization and budget.
Print and lettershop management
Specifications, estimates, vendor selection, schedules, proofs and quality control through the mail date.
Postal planning and mail logistics
Postal class, presort and drop schedules, and how the mail enters the mail stream, including trucking it to the right postal facilities. We look for the most efficient method for every mailing.
Caging and fulfillment
Gift processing, acknowledgements and the data handoff back into your system of record.
Mail does not work alone.
We plan mail alongside email, text and paid digital advertising, so audience, message and timing line up across channels, and results come together in one view of the program.
Put decades of testing to work for you.
Tell us about your mail program and goals, and we'll recommend where to focus.