How a Data-Driven Direct Mail Program Rebuilt Divine Word Missionaries’ Donor File
The Challenge
Since 1875, Divine Word Missionaries has carried its mission to the world’s most forgotten corners, today serving the poor across 79 countries. For generations, faithful donors have made that work possible, providing food, clean water, education, and pastoral care to children and families who would otherwise have none.
But between years 2021 and 2024, that base of support quietly weakened. The active donor file shrank by more than 40% over four years. Revenue followed. Lapsed donor counts climbed and renewal of active donors alone could not reverse the trend.
Divine Word Missionaries turned to Meyer Partners to rebuild the donor file and restore long-term revenue, with a strategy that would work across acquisition, reactivation, and renewal at the same time.
The Solution
Meyer Partners designed a multi-pronged direct mail program built around data, testing, and a creative voice rooted in the DWM mission. The program worked three segments at once: lapsed reactivation, acquisition, and renewal.
Lapsed Reactivation
A parallel lapsed reactivation track ran alongside every acquisition campaign. Predictive modeling identified the donors most likely to give again. The highest-scoring lapsed donors were also placed into select renewal appeals, where they outperformed the cold prospect channel by a wide margin. In campaigns like the November Christmas Wrap, lapsed segments projected response rates nearly three times higher than the acquisition channel.
Each lapsed letter opened with a thank-you rather than an introduction, and ask amounts were personalized to each donor’s giving history. That combination, built on greater frequency across both acquisition and renewal mailings, brought back 2,497 reactivated donors for the full year.
Acquisition
Nearly 900,000 pieces were mailed across five campaigns in 2025. List selection drew on multiple predictive models and additional cooperative databases, evaluated at the campaign level by response rate, average gift, and projected long-term value. Budget was continually redirected toward the highest-performing sources.
Creative themes were tested throughout each campaign. A two-page letter matched the results of a four-page letter at a lower cost per donor acquired. Impact asks, where each amount ties to a specific outcome, beat standard asks on both response rate and average gift. Both are now in the control package.
Renewal
Monthly renewal appeals kept the active base engaged throughout the year. Two mission-driven appeals added in the summer kept DWM top of mind during a period when donors had not been hearing from the organization, helping lift the full-year retention rate to 64%. Among active donors, 1,331 upgraded their giving, and major donor revenue grew nearly 72%, reflecting donors who first came in through acquisition and continued to be cultivated over time.
The Results
TThe program delivered across all three segments for 2025. Renewal drove a 64% donor retention rate, up from 61% the prior year. Lapsed reactivation achieved a 1.4% reactivation rate, bringing back 2,497 donors at higher average gifts than cold prospects. And acquisition led the growth, with new donors up more than 300% year-over-year and total revenue up 51% year-over-year. The momentum has carried into 2026, with donors up 45% through April.
With a rebuilt file, a tested creative platform, and a disciplined data foundation in place, Divine Word Missionaries is positioned for continued growth and for many more years of sustained support for the children and families at the heart of their mission.