Don't ask me how I know, but in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings you'll sometimes hear a member mention "The Elephant in the Living Room." In AA circles, a family member's drinking problem is the elephant in the living room that everyone sees, that everyone feels uncomfortable about, but that no one wants to confront. In direct mail fundraising circles, the elephant in the living room is abysmal conversion rates.

According to Stephen Hitchcock, President of Mal Warwick and Associates, Inc., only 35 percent of new donors ever make a second gift. Which is to say, putting it the other way, a whopping 65 percent of donors acquired by direct mail give once and never give again. Confronting this sobering statistic takes courage but is worth the effort. Here