Direct Mail in 2020: Benchmarks from Canada

Anecdotally, we’ve heard about the highs and lows of direct mail fundraising during COVID-19, but what exactly happened? New report Canadian Direct Mail Benchmarks by Good Works can confirm that it seems like everything has come up roses.

The third benchmark report by the Canadian fundraising agency overall showed that when organisations asked (through direct mail) donors responded – and responded in levels above the year before.

Over half of the organisations surveyed worked in hospital or health-related causes. Results only included gifts made through direct mail; gifts that DM donors made through other channels were not included.

Analysing data from 48 organisations with DM revenue ranging from up to CAD$2 million, the report revealed some interesting highlights – some even surprising:

• Healthcare charities recorded a higher response rate than their non-healthcare counterparts, which is no surprise considering the focus of 2020
• Almost 71% of donors from 2019 gave again in 2020
• Acquisition response rates were up 9%! Meanwhile costs to acquire dropped, making 2020 a great year for acquisition. Non-health related organisations saw the biggest jump in average gifts and the highest decrease in cost to acquire.
• Smaller organisations received the biggest gifts, however, this was in line with their findings from 2019.
• Donors gave large amounts but didn’t give at a higher frequency. Average gifts grew by $8 – an increase of 10.5% from 2019. Non-health related organisations experienced the highest jump in average gifts and also had the highest gift frequency.

A new benchmark in this report was cost per dollar raised. In 2020, organisations on average spent $0.23, consistent with the industry standard of $0.20.

All in all, 2020 was a great year for direct mail in Canada. So now the question is, how will 2021 shape up? Are the results from 2020 an anomaly, or signalling a new normal? Only time will tell.

To see the full report, head to the Good Works website.