Direct Mail Campaigns: Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes
Everyone said direct mail was dead. These campaigns proved them wrong.
In 2023, ABCH's direct mail program generated approximately $1M in revenue, accounting for 25% of individual giving for the year. I led campaigns end-to-end, owning strategy, segmentation, messaging, and performance optimization, treating mail as a measurable, test-and-learn channel rather than a one-off tactic.
6.83% Increase in Total Direct Mail Donations
$4.99 Average Direct Mail ROI
14.13% Increase in Average Gift Size
Results
ABCH needed to raise $200,000 to renovate a campus location. I developed a segmented direct mail campaign anchored by a $50,000 matching gift, with two distinct versions tailored to regular donors and major donors.
$2.68 ROI from Regular Donors
$16.01 ROI from Major Donors
The campaign met its full funding goal
Summer Match Campaign
ABCH historically relied on long-form letters for appeals. I tested a 5x7 card format featuring a concise thank you message and a short impact story to reduce friction, improve response rate, and break the pattern supporters were used to seeing.
4.36% Response Rate
$9.96 ROI
One of the highest-performing appeals in the program
Cami’s Story
Strategy
Audience & Segmentation
Segmented the mailing list by donor behavior rather than sending to everyone, identifying where each donor was in their lifecycle and tailoring the ask accordingly
Matched the ask to the audience by encouraging active donors to increase their giving while presenting approachable gift amounts to lapsing donors to keep them engaged and in the lifecycle
Messaging & Content
Led with impact by anchoring every appeal around a compelling story and clear messaging that showed donors exactly where their money was going
Centered messaging around the donor, framing every appeal around how their specific gift could make a difference, where their money was going, and the impact it was creating
Applied direct mail readership research to inform layout and content hierarchy, knowing donors flip between front and back and often read the PS before the letter, making sure the most important content was impossible to miss at a glance
Campaign Planning & Execution
Provided multiple response mechanisms to reduce friction, giving donors the option to give by reply card with envelope, QR code, online, or phone
Built an editorial calendar around donor behavior research and historical trends to optimize mailing timing, deliberately avoiding the summer dead zone and spacing appeals so supporters were not receiving multiple asks at once
Coordinated direct mail with digital channels, timing email, social, and paid media to follow shortly after mail dropped, extending campaign reach and providing multiple touchpoints for donors who hadn't yet responded
Testing & Optimization
Tested formats, messaging, elements, and inclusions through A/B testing to identify what drove the strongest response rates and ROI across different donor segments
