Do you want to build your supporter base with the right type of people? … ask a list broker.

With digital now as crowded as the doormat used to be, charities are increasingly considering cold direct mail as a route to new audiences. But for any charity thinking about using this channel, one of the most important questions will be how to determine who to mail, ideally those people who are most likely to support your work and stick with you into the future. The key is in finding the best and most responsive mailing data for your cause.  

The good news is that this data is available. As well as the Electoral Roll’s open register data, there are also a huge number of lifestyle and mail order files available, with mailing consents, that offer detailed profiling and insights into the types of people you can choose to communicate with. Legitimate interests can be used as a basis for contacting people on these files, providing you meet certain conditions.  

Data sourcing – DIY vs list broker  

So, how to find the right data for your charity? It is possible to source the data you need yourself by approaching data owners directly. Alternatively, you can use a list broker, and this tends to be the route most charities will go down for a number of reasons.   

Firstly, it’s a lot simpler: a good broker will provide a wide and impartial view of what’s available and know where to find it.   

It’s safer, because they will also take care of the necessary due diligence, ensuring you don’t fall foul of any data protection rules.   

And it generally will also result in better results. Because sourcing cold data isn’t about volume, and it’s not even as simple as just identifying good lists. It’s about identifying the data selections within those lists that have the greatest potential for your cause, and this is a specialist science that brokers are experts in.     

On top of this, they can provide a lot of other expertise to help ensure your campaign is a success, from helping you to understand what does and doesn’t work with cold mail, to guiding you through the testing and rollout.    

Getting the best from your broker  

When you’re looking for a list broker to work with, the key to success is simply to be as open and honest with them as you possibly can. They don’t expect anyone who doesn’t deal with data every day to really understand it, but it helps both parties if you’re upfront about your level of knowledge.   

It also helps if you explain exactly what you’re planning – both for this particular campaign, if you’re planning further campaigns, as well as how you intend to nurture your relationship with the donor going forward. These considerations will impact the kind of person the broker seeks for you. So, if you’re recruiting for a one-off gift, or a raffle, but hoping to convert donors to regular supporters further down the line for example, this is really useful information to share.   

That way your broker can guide you through all these key elements, from identifying and finding the right audience for your campaign, coding your mail so you can track response, answering consumer questions post mailing, through to testing and refining, and of course, rolling out subsequent campaigns.    

Allow plenty of time too. I would say at least two months from appointing your list broker to the mail going out. The first time you do it will be a learning curve so could well take longer.  

Working with any supplier should really be a partnership. It’s this that fosters the trust and understanding needed on both sides for the relationship to be a success. And it’s this that will really help you get the best from your list broker.  

Here at Arc Data, we’ve been successfully helping nonprofits source the best possible data for their cold direct mail campaigns for over 30 years. So, if you’d like to discuss how we can help your organisation find high quality supporters too, please get in touch!  

Contact Suzanne here: suzanne@arc-data.co.uk