Identity & Communication Event held on 3-20-2004 "Tell 'em Who You Are!" | |
Direct Mail
Union Church in Montclair Gets Good Response from General Mailers
For more than 5 years, we sent letters and
brochures to new home owners in the ten contiguous zip codes. The addresses cost us $43 and we produced
letters and brochures in house. The best
ones were the ones that were hand addressed but that got old with the
committee. We’d have from 175 to 300
homes monthly. When under 200 we’d save
them for the next month for bulk mail (approx $60). When over, we’d cut the least likely zip codes (usually
Belleville). We took this from the
budget. While we don’t know how many
members we received directly from this, we know some of our most active members
came this way or through a combination of this and invitation of others, church
reputation etc.
We
discontinued that two years ago when we did an all-area mailer through a
special gift. It cost about $6,000 for
postcard and mailing. We used the
“Still Speaking” postcard with our own copy.
It was sent to 2 zips in Montclair, Glen Ridge, Verona, Cedar Grove,
Bloomfield, and Nutley. When we wrote the UCC pastors about what we were doing,
it caused quite a ruckus. If anyone
came to us via the mailer from a community with a UCC church, we directed them
to that congregation as well. We’ve had
a couple of people who have come because of the mailing AND, someone went to
First Montclair over the holidays, very much in need of a church and thanked
them for the postcard (made connection since they have the complementing signs
up). Hurray, they got to a church!
This past
year we did the Valu-pak. Good response
from non-members; not great response from members. It was a late summer, early fall “deal”; 55,000 homes (most of
them counted 3 times for the 3 mailings) cost us $1,500. Layout for coupon was done by members who
are graphic designers.
This year we
are going back to the new homeowners.
The cost has gone from $43 to $63 because the average number of leads
has gone from 181 to 237. We’re doing
postcards, instead of envelopes, because they don’t have to be opened. We will
use the printed labels rather than handwritten addresses, since isn’t necessary
to get them opened. Will use “spiffy”
cardstock and design them with the comma in some fashion--though we’re not sure
we’ll use the red and black again.
--Stephanie Weiner
(See over for samples)