Improve Direct Mail Performance Using Behavioral Science & Personality Traits with Kevin Schulman

Fewer than five of charity: water’s donors wrote a check during a 75,000-piece direct mail test, yet direct mail STILL lifted revenue by 1.5-2%!

Behavioral science expert and DonorVoice founder Kevin Schulman is here to talk about why traditional direct mail metrics fall short, why your “non-check-writers” may be your biggest missed opportunity, and how personality-based messaging can transform donor engagement.

You’ll hear the inside story of a charity: water experiment that tested postcards vs. full letters, QR codes on the outer envelope, and personality trait targeting based on the Big Five framework.

Kevin and I also dig into measuring donor commitment, what predicts retention, and how some nonprofits are increasing their first-year monthly donor retention by 6-9 percentage points simply by adjusting their communication volume.

If you’re rethinking how direct mail fits into your world, this episode will reshape how you design, segment, and evaluate your campaigns.

Resources & Links

Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn and learn more about DonorVoice on their website.

Check out the book I’m currently reading, Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect, by Will Guidara.

This show is brought to you by GivingTuesday! GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement that started in 2012 with a simple idea: a day to do good.

This year, on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, join the conversation: share your favorite nonprofit’s campaign, volunteer for a cause you care about, share an act of kindness, or encourage your audience to do the same.

Use #GivingTuesday, tag @GivingTuesday, and visit GivingTuesday.org/Participate to get involved and inspire others!

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