I don’t want to annoy with a “good old days” story. 

But listen to this: Back in the day – like back in the 20th century – donor acquisition was so much easier (and less expensive) than it is now. It was a dependable and affordable way to get new donors. Organizations large and small, could make it work. All you had to do:  

• Come up with a great fundraising offer. 

• Express the offer with powerful creative. 

• Engage an affordable and trustworthy direct mail printer. 

• Find some good lists of potential donors… 

Presto! You had some new donors. At a decent cost-per-donor. 

That’s a bit of an over-simplification – none of that stuff is easy. But unless something went wrong on one of those steps, you’d be on your way to growth. With a disciplined program of testing offers, creative, and lists, you could fine-tune your acquisition. It was just a matter of how much budget you were able to invest in growth.  

Back then we had two main ways of measuring the success of direct mail acquisition: 

1. Months to break-even. You can count on being in the red after any donor acquisition project (How much? See point #2.) What you are aiming for is subsequent giving from the donors you acquire. It’s those who stay with you we’re looking to now. Remember that the majority of them will never give again. Others will continue to give, and some will upgrade their giving over time. How long does it take to fully recoup your acquisition investment? It used to be typical for it to take 12-24 months to break even. Much beyond that, we used to consider “unsustainable.”  
2. ROI at acquisition. The guide we used to consider the line between successful and unsuccessful acquisition: 0.6 to one. 60¢ back for every dollar we spent. 

But then, slowly, almost too slowly to notice, things started to shift: 

• Costs went up. Printing and postage increased faster than general inflation, as they usually do. Every acquisition project grew more expensive in real dollars. 

• Then response rates went down. Here in the US, we used to consider a 1% response rate in acquisition to be a reasonable target. Now when I see that, it’s time to get out the champagne. Response of .5% is more reasonable, and it’s common to see lower than that. 

• New donor retention drifted lower. The percentage of those new donors who ever gave again used to hover between 20% and 25%. Sometimes better. Now, we feel good when we get 20%. I recently saw a benchmarking study that put it at 14%. 

The only metric that has improved over time is average gift. It has gone up most years. Often enough to make up for the gloomy numbers above. But not always, and not for everyone. 

These things add up to higher cost per donor. Months to break-even is rarely under 24, and ROI at acquisition frequently falls below 60¢ on the dollar. 

The result: Direct mail is not the low-cost money-maker it used to be. It is a steeper up-front investment. Many organizations no longer see it as the go-to way to get donors it used to be. 

Not everyone. Many organizations are still doing great with direct mail donor acquisitions. But a lot of nonprofits have decreased or even pulled out of direct mail. Many more, especially smaller organizations, aren’t even considering it. 

Which might be a mistake. 

Because there’s something those old metrics weren’t looking at 

The donors you acquire today are worth more than their first gift. They’re even worth more than those now-and-then gifts they give through the years. 

The real treasure is in what happens when donors upgrade their giving. 

There are three big ways donors upgrade their giving: 

Monthly giving. A donor who starts at $25 a year and converts to $15 a month just went from $25 to $180 annually. That’s a 7x increase. And monthly donors tend to stick around longer than single-gift donors. Much longer. Their lifetime value is in a different league. 

Major and midvalue giving. Some of your acquired donors have the financial capacity to give hundreds or even thousands of dollars. You won’t know which ones when they first arrive. But give your donors great experiences, connect them to the work, and some of them will surprise you. 

Bequests. This is the big one. Let me say that more loudly: This is the BIG ONE. The average charitable bequest in the US is somewhere around $70,000 to $80,000. A single bequest can make up for years — maybe decades — of acquisition investment. 

Here’s the thing about direct mail acquisition that most people overlook: it’s very good at finding and keeping the donors most likely to leave bequests. 

That is, older donors. People in their 60s, 70s, 80s. People who have been giving to an organization for years. People who feel a deep, long-term connection to the cause. 

Direct mail skews heavily toward an older demographic. Always has. Some folks see that as a weakness. I’d argue it’s a fundraising superpower. 

When you acquire donors through direct mail, you are disproportionately bringing in older supporters. And if you treat them well — if you thank them, report back on what their gift accomplished, and keep the relationship warm — many of them will stay with you for a long time. They become loyal. Connected. The kind of donors who remember you in their will. 

You can’t predict which ones. But if even a tiny fraction of your donors leave a bequest, the return on your acquisition investment isn’t just good. It’s extraordinary. 

Let’s look at the numbers. Say you acquire 1,000 donors. The ROI was less than 50¢ on the dollar. Your CFO is giving you that Look. 

But over the next ten to twenty years, suppose just three of those 1,000 donors leave a bequest. At an average of $70,000. That’s $210,000. From a $30,000 investment. That’s on top of all their other giving and upgrading.  

By the way, three bequests from a thousand donors? That’s the low end of what you can expect. Organizations that are good at promoting bequest giving sometimes get bequests from 2% to 5% of their direct mail donors  

Suddenly the ROI at acquisition that made everyone nervous looks like a rounding error.  

So what does this mean for you? 

It means you might need to rethink how you evaluate direct mail acquisition. The old metrics still matter — you need to track cost-per-donor, months to break-even, and initial ROI. You can’t ignore cash flow. But if those are the only numbers you look at, you’re seeing a fraction of the picture. 

The full picture includes the long arc of donor value.  

If your organization has pulled back from direct mail acquisition because the short-term numbers got harder, I’d encourage you to take another look. Factor in the upgrade potential. Run the long-term projections. Talk to your bequest team (if you have one — and you should). 

Direct mail acquisition isn’t the easy win it was back in the 20th century. But it might still be one of the smartest investments you can make. 

You just have to be patient enough to see the full return. 

Donor bequest gifts don’t just happen. Find out how you can unlock this powerful form of giving with our free ebook, Easy Building Blocks for a High-Producing Bequest Program. This is a practical and liberating look at one of the most important forms of charitable giving that can massively expand your revenue from donors. 

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