Nonprofit & Public Sector / Nonprofit & Fundraising Campaigns

Nonprofit marketing, printed, mailed and run by one team

Nonprofit marketing from MBI is the organization's whole program rather than a single appeal: a direct-mail donor acquisition and fundraising appeal, a Facebook donor-acquisition or mail-reinforcement campaign, and an opt-in text-to-donate or donor-engagement campaign, printed, mailed and run by one team.

Not sure where to start? Talk with our team

The programme

Which three campaigns does a nonprofit run with MBI?

The short answer

Three: a direct-mail donor acquisition and fundraising appeal, a Facebook donor-acquisition or mail-reinforcement campaign, and an opt-in text-to-donate or donor-engagement campaign. MBI plans, produces and delivers all three from a single team in DeLand, Florida, so the letter, the ad and the message are one organization's program rather than three suppliers' projects.

The three campaigns. The three researched campaigns are a direct-mail donor acquisition/fundraising appeal, a Facebook donor-acquisition or mail-reinforcement campaign, and an opt-in text-to-donate or donor-engagement campaign.

The documented channel. Nonprofit resources identify direct mail as a major channel for donor acquisition and fundraising; it is also frequently coordinated with digital fundraising.

direct mail marketing services direct mail and digital marketing

Mailer · Direct Mail

Fundraising mailer: a fuller table starts with us, help provide fresh groceries for local families; your support keeps neighbors nourished, the network’s own address, and give online or mail your gift today along the foot.
Fundraising mailer: a fuller table starts with us, help provide fresh groceries for local families; your support keeps neighbors nourished, the network’s own address, and give online or mail your gift today along the foot.

Postcard · Direct Mail

Donor-acquisition appeal postcard: your support moves neighbors forward; stronger families, healthier communities, brighter tomorrows; together we help neighbors access the resources, opportunities and support they need to thrive, and the fund’s own giving address.
Donor-acquisition appeal postcard: your support moves neighbors forward; stronger families, healthier communities, brighter tomorrows; together we help neighbors access the resources, opportunities and support they need to thrive, and the fund’s own giving address.

Printing and mailing

What do nonprofit printing and mailing services cover?

The short answer

Fundraising appeal letters and envelopes are the printed pieces, and MBI prints both: commercial and variable-data printing in house, with data, print and delivery in house since 1989. One team in DeLand, Florida prints the letter and its envelope and delivers the mailing.

The formats. Fundraising appeal letters and envelopes are the two print formats named for this vertical.

In house. Printing at MBI is commercial and variable-data printing produced in house.

USPS states that an organization may apply for and receive nonprofit authorization but that there are restrictions as to what may be mailed at those prices — for instance restrictions on the amount and kind of advertising — and that it is always best to check with your local Business Mail Entry Unit staff before you design and print your mailpiece. It also states that individuals are NOT eligible for nonprofit prices, that not every organization is eligible even though you may think it qualifies based on the list of typically eligible types, and that business leagues, chambers of commerce, social and hobby clubs and certain political organizations usually are NOT eligible.

USPS, Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail qualifications

USPS Domestic Mail Manual 602.5 provides that each address, except for mail bearing an alternative address format, in a mailing at commercial First-Class Mail presorted or automation prices or USPS Marketing Mail prices is subject to the Move Update standard, and that each address and associated addressee used on the mailpieces in a mailing must be updated within 95 days before the mailing date with one of the USPS-approved methods, which include Address Change Service and the National Change of Address Linkage System (NCOALink).

USPS Domestic Mail Manual 602.5

printing services direct mail cost direct mail mailing lists

Guide · Printing

Impact-story guide: your giving in action, every gift has a next step; listen, support, measure and share set out as four steps with what each one covers, and the fund’s own address.
Impact-story guide: your giving in action, every gift has a next step; listen, support, measure and share set out as four steps with what each one covers, and the fund’s own address.

One-sheet · Printing

Corporate-partner one-sheet: a community partnership brief; purpose-driven, people-centered, with three ways to take part — sponsor, volunteer and measure — the fund’s four focus areas, and its own address.
Corporate-partner one-sheet: a community partnership brief; purpose-driven, people-centered, with three ways to take part — sponsor, volunteer and measure — the fund’s four focus areas, and its own address.

Nonprofit prices

Facebook and Instagram

What do nonprofit Facebook ads reinforce?

The short answer

A Facebook campaign whose job is the mail's job. The advertising is coordinated with the direct-mail acquisition rather than run as a separate project, so the ad reinforces the appeal already on its way instead of making its own ask. MBI builds the creative and runs the campaign as the coordinated half of that acquisition effort.

What is on record. Research compares Facebook ads with direct mail for conservation fundraising, and nonprofit experiment material supports coordinated Facebook advertising with direct-mail acquisition.

Meta's advertising standards state that advertisers are responsible for understanding and complying with all applicable laws and regulations, and that ads must not promote products, services, schemes or offers using identified deceptive or misleading practices.

Meta, Advertising Standards

digital advertising services direct mail and digital marketing

What is on record

The ad’s job is the mail’s

Meta ad · Facebook

Riverbend Community Food NetworkSponsored
Fundraising feed unit: a fuller table starts with us, help provide fresh groceries for local families; volunteers packing produce boxes, good food, stronger neighbors; support Riverbend, learn more.
A fuller table starts with us.Help provide fresh groceries for local families
Fundraising feed unit: a fuller table starts with us, help provide fresh groceries for local families; volunteers packing produce boxes, good food, stronger neighbors; support Riverbend, learn more.

Meta carousel · Facebook

Harborlight Community FundSponsored
Fundraising carousel: small acts, shared progress; a community volunteer shaking hands, neighbours planting and a produce box handed over; see the work.
Small acts. Shared progress.
Fundraising carousel: small acts, shared progress; a community volunteer shaking hands, neighbours planting and a produce box handed over; see the work.

Reel · Instagram

Mission-story Reel: meet the mission, neighbors helping neighbors; a volunteer handing a box of groceries to a neighbour at the harbour, and the fund’s own lockup at the foot.
Mission-story Reel: meet the mission, neighbors helping neighbors; a volunteer handing a box of groceries to a neighbour at the harbour, and the fund’s own lockup at the foot.

Text to donate

How does a supporter opt in to a text to donate program for nonprofits?

The short answer

Nothing sends until the supporter opts in. CTIA's messaging principles say messages should be sent only after the consumer has opted in, and list entering a telephone number through a website among the ways consent is shown. The consent strategy and opt-out handling are written for the organization's own mission.

What the research names it. Nonprofit text reports document opt-in donor communication and text-to-donate programs, and the research directs the use of a mission-specific consent strategy and opt-out handling.

CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices state that message senders should support opt-in mechanisms and that messages should be sent only after the consumer has opted in to receive them, and list entering a telephone number through a website, clicking a button on a mobile webpage, initiating the text message exchange, and signing up at a point-of-sale or other on-site location among the mechanisms by which a consumer might demonstrate opt-in consent; message senders should also document opt-in consent by retaining, where applicable, seven kinds of data, among them the timestamp of consent acquisition and the consent acquisition medium.

CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices, May 2023, §5.1.2

CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices state that consumers should have the ability to opt out of receiving messages at any time through multiple mechanisms including phone call, email or text, that senders should acknowledge and honor all opt-out requests by sending one final opt-out confirmation message per campaign, and that message senders should not use opt-in lists that have been rented, sold or shared and should create and vet their own opt-in lists.

CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices, May 2023, §§5.1.3–5.1.4

digital advertising services nonprofit direct mail

SMS

Text-to-donate text: reply YES to receive our secure text-to-donate link and help provide fresh groceries locally; the YES, then the network’s own giving link.
Text-to-donate text: reply YES to receive our secure text-to-donate link and help provide fresh groceries locally; the YES, then the network’s own giving link.

SMS

Text-to-donate text: want to support this month’s local work, reply YES and we’ll send the giving link; the YES, then the fund’s own giving link.
Text-to-donate text: want to support this month’s local work, reply YES and we’ll send the giving link; the YES, then the fund’s own giving link.

Until the yes

Questions

Questions a nonprofit asks before it mails

Searched for nonprofit marketing agency, marketing for nonprofits or nonprofit marketing company? Same work, same answers.

  1. What is nonprofit marketing, in practice?

    Three campaigns, run for one organization: a direct-mail donor acquisition and fundraising appeal, a Facebook donor-acquisition or mail-reinforcement campaign, and an opt-in text-to-donate or donor-engagement campaign. MBI plans, produces and delivers all three from a single team in DeLand, Florida.

  2. What moves the cost of a nonprofit mailing?

    A fundraising appeal letter has no list price. Producing that letter and mailing it are the two costs, and seven decisions move those two numbers, among them quantity, format and finished size, paper and weight, data and personalization, and postage, mail class, and sortation. /capabilities/direct-mail/direct-mail-cost sets all seven out behind a nonprofit's appeal.

  3. How are the addresses on a nonprofit mailing kept current?

    Matched against the postal change-of-address file before a nonprofit's drop. USPS requires each address in a mailing at commercial First-Class Mail presorted or automation prices, or USPS Marketing Mail prices, to be updated within 95 days before the mailing date by an approved method such as NCOALink or Address Change Service; mail bearing an alternative address format is excepted.

  4. Where do the numbers in a nonprofit's text program come from?

    From supporters who gave them to the organization. CTIA's messaging principles say messages should be sent only after the consumer has opted in, list entering a telephone number through a website and signing up at an on-site location among the ways consent is shown, and say senders should not use opt-in lists that have been rented, sold or shared.

  5. What has to be checked before a nonprofit mailpiece is designed and printed?

    Eligibility and content. USPS says an organization may apply for and receive nonprofit authorization, but that there are restrictions as to what may be mailed at those prices, for instance on the amount and kind of advertising, and that it is always best to check with the local Business Mail Entry Unit staff before you design and print your mailpiece.

  6. What does Meta require of a nonprofit running ads?

    Meta's advertising standards say advertisers are responsible for understanding and complying with all applicable laws and regulations, and that ads must not promote products, services, schemes or offers using identified deceptive or misleading practices. They apply to a nonprofit's campaign like any other advertiser's.

  7. Does MBI work with nonprofits outside Florida?

    Yes. One production floor in DeLand, Florida serves organizations across the United States, and data, print and delivery have been in-house since 1989.

Get started

Start a nonprofit campaign.

Say which of the three campaigns it is, and what the programme around it should carry. It goes to a real member of the MBI team, not a queue.

Who we reply toOrganization and phone are optional

What you needOptional, in your own words

The direct-mail donor acquisition and fundraising appeal, the Facebook campaign coordinated with it, or the opt-in text-to-donate programme — and the consent strategy the texting should be written for.

Your answers will be reviewed by a real member of our team, not dropped into an automated pricing tool.