Postalgia Blog

Donor Segmentation

By: EmMa Matern

November 15, 2022

Want to increase donor retention? Donor segmentation is the key! In the first part of this article we will discuss donor segmentation and how it affects donor retention. Donor retention…

Establishing your Nonprofit Brand: 3 Brand Design Fundamentals

By: EmMa Matern

September 12, 2022

Establishing your nonprofit brand can be intimidating, but let’s start with some basics! This article discusses 3 vital design aspects to consider when designing your nonprofit brand. You will learn…

5 Reasons Why Handwritten Notes Are Powerful

By: Ilan Mann

Technology is omnipresent in our lives. We live on our phones, use laptops to do work, and communicate through social media. But there’s an impact that can be made through…

How to Follow up with Volunteers

By: EmMa Matern

Acknowledging your volunteers is just as important as acknowledging your donors, and you can do that by sending out a follow up! In this article we are going to be…

Donor Retention: Structure Your Fundraising Operation for Success

By: Ilan Mann

What requires more effort, acquiring new donors or retaining the existing ones? Most nonprofits are likely to answer that acquiring new donors requires significantly more work, but that doesn’t mean…

Authentic Communication with your Donors

By: EmMa Matern

The nonprofit sector is in the business of people-helping-people. What better motivates people-helping-people than being authentic!? This blog contains vital information about maintaining authentic communication with your donors. The 3…

Tips for Effective Storytelling for Nonprofits

By: EmMa Matern

Nonprofit storytelling is an essential skill to have to maintain a successful nonprofit organization. Storytelling informs your donors about how their donations are being spent and who their donations affect….

9 Steps to Increase Your Average Donation Amount

By: Ilan Mann

Fundraising is a year-round concern for nonprofit organizations that rely on donations and contributions to operate successfully. Those tasked with this challenge must focus on multiple levels, expanding their list…

Increase Donor Loyalty With Our Best Practices

By: Ilan Mann

One of the advantages that nonprofit organizations have is that often donors are looking for authentic personal connections with the nonprofit. Donors want to feel connected, like they are a…

Finding Your Next Major Donor is as Easy as 1,2,3…4,5,6

By: Ilan Mann

Whether you’re running a venture-backed Startup company, a Fortune 500 telecom giant, or a mission-driven non-profit organization, you need more resources – usually cash – to build your team, grow…

Top 6 Non Profit Marketing Ideas

By: Ilan Mann

It is crucial for marketing and communications professionals to have a marketing plan, even if the budget is low. Marketing plans set goals, develop tools for communication, define the mission,…

The Benefit of Thanking Your Customers

By: Ilan Mann

August 10, 2021

Gratitude. It’s such a simple word to say. In reality, it has so much meaning. And it means different things to different people. It can even anchor your business strategy….

How to Make a Thank-You Note More Memorable

By: Ilan Mann

Thank-you cards are a straightforward concept: they convey gratitude for a kind deed, statement, or gift. For the writer, the formality of a handwritten thank you might be overwhelming. Many…

6 Ways to Shake Up How You Say ‘Thank You!’

By: Ilan Mann

It isn’t always what you say that matters nearly as much as how you say it. That is something businesses, charities, non-profits, and individuals need to understand when it comes…

How to Win Donation Dollars

By: Ilan Mann

Donations are the lifeblood for non-profits, charities and political parties. The relationships you build with your donors today make a world of difference for future donations. That’s why it is…

Fanmail Friday: Getting Attention With Custom Letters

By: Ilan Mann

Every day at Postalgia, we help clients engage their target audience by creating handwritten, personalized letters at scale. We have a fundamental belief that to stand out from the steady…

5 Easy Ways To Market Your Small Business Using Handwritten Notes

By: Ilan Mann

Handwritten notes are a tried-and-true method of communicating with new or prospective clients. Writing a customized handwritten message demonstrates there is a person behind the scenes at the heart of…

Four Handwritten Letters From History That Had A Big Impact

By: Ilan Mann

Around these parts, we are big believers in the power of the written word. In fact, our whole business model centres on the belief that handwritten letters can change your…

How To Reach Out To Inactive Donors

By: Ilan Mann

Donors who are inactive or have lapsed may appear to be a lost cause. These contributors haven’t given to your nonprofit in a long time; why would you spend money…

7 Most Common Business Thank You Note Mistakes

By: Ilan Mann

It’s common knowledge that a thank-you note is an essential part of business etiquette, but believe it or not, there are many ways to do it wrong. As we have…

Delight Your Donors With A Handwritten Note

By: Ilan Mann

When was the last time you received a personalized handwritten letter in the mail? According to recent statistics, it’s pretty rare. Based on data from the Postal Regulatory Commission, the…

9 Ways To Use Thank-You Cards as a Marketing Tool

By: Ilan Mann

We all understand the importance of making a good first impression. But too often, we forget to create a clear and memorable conclusion at the end of an interaction with…

How One Company Built A Business With Thank You Notes

By: Ilan Mann

You know that feeling when you receive a handwritten thank you note in the mail? It’s like an instant boost of happiness and appreciation for someone who took their time…

6 Tips For Realtors On How To Craft The Perfect Prospecting Letter

By: Ilan Mann

One of the most challenging parts of being a realtor – what separates the greats from those who are scraping by – is the ability to attract listings. If it…

Are Handwritten Notes Dead?

By: Ilan Mann

In an age where we have lost the art of human interaction and replaced it with a keyboard, few things are as important as sending a handwritten note or letter….

How You Can Make Small Donors Feel Important

By: Ilan Mann

We understand that large donors are often the primary focus of non-profits, charities and other organizations that rely on donations. Given the potential amount large donors could contribute to meeting…

Handwritten Notes for Realtors: How To Maximize Client Touchpoints

By: Ilan Mann

The real estate industry is a tough one, and the competition for clients can be fierce. But there are many ways to set yourself apart from competitors that don’t involve…

Six Things to Avoid in a Handwritten Thank You Note

By: Ilan Mann

When you receive a handwritten thank-you note from someone, it’s one of the most thoughtful gestures that person could make. It shows that they took time out of their day…

4 ways to get referrals from handwritten letters

By: Ilan Mann

The folks who say “the best things in life are free” have never been to Disneyland. But, they’re on to something when it comes to business. Entrepreneurs love nothing more…

Three ways to frame choices and get better answers with direct mail

By: Ilan Mann

Every day, people make decisions. We make those decisions of our own free will. Or do we? Consider: you walk into a grocery store to buy a carton of eggs….

Bring back pen pals!

By: Ilan Mann

Imagine meeting your best friend for the first time, after sixty years. That’s the story of Canadian Dolores Baily and Australian Lyn Carpenter. They started corresponding at age ten through…

The Revenge of Analog

By: Ilan Mann

October 20, 2020

Life is moving online—so why are so many of us going offline? The Revenge of Analog explains why. If you’re a literary junkie, you know there’s been a quiet civil…

How writing letters can fight pandemic depression

By: Ilan Mann

October 14, 2020

Life-giving responses to COVID-19 can include: Physical distancing; Mask-wearing in public spaces; Handwritten letters; or, All of the above. The answer is four. Yes, actually. Handwriting letters to loved ones…

These six attributes explain the power of direct mail

By: Ilan Mann

October 12, 2020

Is direct mail dead? It’s the question on marketers’ minds. At the very least, it’s the question they’re Googling: with 167 million results for the search “is direct mail dead?”…

Turn e-commerce into an IRL relationship with handwritten letters

By: Ilan Mann

October 2, 2020

E-commerce is everything for entrepreneurs in 2020. The NASDAQ estimates that by 2040, 95% of purchases will be facilitated by e-commerce. But we are already seeing that shift happening now….

12 Tactics for Using Handwritten Letters in Your Sales Funnel

By: Ilan Mann

September 24, 2020

Sales funnels. If you’re an entrepreneur or salesperson, you’ve heard the term enough to make your ears bleed. Yes, those YouTube ads by teenage sales “gurus” are torturous. (“Here’s how…

Gratitude is a Business Strategy

By: Ilan Mann

September 18, 2020

Gratitude: you might know it as a hashtag, or an Indigo mug, or a word your mom has crocheted on her wall. What you may not know is that gratitude…

Long Live the Concierge – Personalizing the E-Commerce Customer Experience

By: Ilan Mann

August 11, 2020

The transition for the brick and mortar storefront has been hugely exciting for a whole host of reasons: The need to pay top dollar to rent space in a…

Should You Ask For Donations When Saying Thank You?

By: Ilan Mann

“Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you. Give me a pig! He looks you in the eye and treats you as an equal.” – Sir Winston Churchill …

Call Me Maybe (But I’d Rather You Didn’t)

By: Ilan Mann

If you were to ask Millennials or Gen Z (defined as those born between 1980 and the early 2010’s) how they feel about receiving phone calls, they would likely rank…

Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics, and Metrics

By: Ilan Mann

Mark Twain popularized (and attributed erroneously, ironically, to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli) the adage that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. This week, my…

Opportunity Knocks… And then Mails

By: Ilan Mann

Politics has changed drastically these last few decades in so many drastic ways, it’s tempting to pinpoint one or the other as the secret to a candidate’s success or failure:…

The Illusion of Transparency

By: Ilan Mann

The illusion of transparency is one of the most common causes of misunderstandings and missed opportunities between people, between companies and their customers, between nonprofits and their donors, etc… The…

Getting Out The Vote with Handwritten Mail

By: Ilan Mann

Suppose that you are running for class president, and there are 100 eligible voters. If all the voters have to vote, your job is to persuade 51 of them…

Write a Personal Donor Birthday Card in 7 Seconds

By: Ilan Mann

Dear Samantha, Congratulations on turning 58 years young! I wanted to wish you a happy birthday on behalf of myself, Sandra, and all of us at The Riverdale Hospital Foundation! …

“The Things We Think and Do Not Say”

By: Ilan Mann

At the beginning of the great sports movie Jerry Maguire, the eponymous sports agent, in the throes of a night of inspiration, writes a mission statement, called The Things We…

The Nonprofit Stewardship Cycle

By: Ilan Mann

Just as customer engagement is becoming an increasingly important metric for profit-driven businesses, donor stewardship is playing a larger role than ever in nonprofit management. The “why” of retention, loyalty,…

Part Five – Jumping Off A Bridge

By: Ilan Mann

This is part five of an ongoing series about consumer behaviour. You are strongly encouraged to read at least part one here and part two here before reading this post….

Part Four – The Extra Large Medium

By: Ilan Mann

This is part four of an ongoing series about consumer behaviour. You are strongly encouraged to read part one here, part two here, and part three here before reading this…

Part Three – The Availability Bias and Priming in your Mailbox

By: Ilan Mann

This is part two of an ongoing series about consumer behaviour. You are strongly encouraged to read part one here and part two here before reading this post. Let’s recap…

Part Two – The Irrational Consumer

By: Ilan Mann

This is part two of an ongoing series about consumer behaviour. You are strongly encouraged to read part one here before reading this post. If all of your customers were…

Part One – This is Your Brain on Loyalty

By: Ilan Mann

This is part one of an ongoing series about consumer behaviour. What follows may seem like an esoteric or purely academic post in a blog that is normally about marketing,…

Keeping Your Friends Close: Retention, Retention, Retention

By: Ilan Mann

Like most suburban kids, I never really understood the proverb, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Why is a bird in the bush worth anything?…

5 Tips for Writing a Personal Letter

By: Ilan Mann

A few years ago, a client of ours – a large charity – goofed up and sent a handwritten thank-you card to a donor, and another to her husband, for…

The Bus that Nearly Flattens You

By: Ilan Mann

You’re jogging across an intersection when a city bus turns the corner a little too fast. You jump out of the way and narrowly avoid being run over. Okay –…

How to Catch the Attention of a Goldfish

By: Ilan Mann

If commonly cited statistics are to be believed, it’s a miracle that you clicked on this article. If it took you more than 4 or 5 seconds to read…

Turning Donors and Customers into your Fundraisers and Salespeople

By: Ilan Mann

Every fundraiser or salesperson knows that the easiest people to turn into donors and customers are already part of their network. A lot of the reasons why prospects are hesitant…

Why Donors Stop Donating

By: Ilan Mann

February 16, 2020

Donors are the lifeblood of any nonprofit organization, and their value cannot be overstated – but it can be calculated. Many fundraising and nonprofit professionals like to think that their…

Why Thanking Your Donors is So Important

By: Ilan Mann

February 13, 2020

I am always shocked to hear non-profit professionals tell me that they don’t thank their donors. The logic goes that people open their hearts and wallets to charities and non-profits…

How to be Great at Gratitude – 5 Tips for Brilliant Donor & Volunteer Thank-you Cards

By: Ilan Mann

February 10, 2020

So you’ve decided to send thank you notes to your donors and volunteers. Good call! There are few combinations of words more powerful than “Thank You.” Letting someone know that…