Frequently Asked Questions

The Individual Giving Collective is a unique learning community built exclusively for individual giving professionals. Created by fundraisers who understand your challenges, this first-of-its-kind hub delivers what our sector has been missing for years. Here, you’ll find practical, accessible guidance that helps you master your craft, build stronger programs, and achieve better results ̶̶ all based on proven strategies and solid research rather than guesswork.

This course will revolutionize your charity’s direct mail program by providing you with a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to fundraising that generates stronger results across all aspects of your work. You’ll develop expertise in four critical areas that work together to create a more effective, efficient, and human-centered program.

• Strategy: This isn’t just about one campaign. Taking this course will give you the strategic guidance to build a comprehensive, integrated direct mail program that deepens donor relationships and inspires life-long giving.
• Copywriting: You’ll master the art and science of creating compelling fundraising stories that inspire action and drive response.
• Production: Transform your production process and maximize your budget with expert guidance on timelines, package components, vendor management, data personalization, and quality control.
• Measurement & Analysis: You’ll learn to interpret key metrics, set realistic projections, and communicate results to leadership—turning your direct mail program into a data-driven operation that is continuously improving.

DM 101: The Ultimate Guide to Executing a Direct Mail Campaign is perfect for fundraisers who manage their own direct mail program and lack the budget or resources to work with external consultants or vendors.

It’s also ideal if you’re new to fundraising and trying to figure out direct mail for the first time, or if you’re primarily focused on other fundraising channels but got handed direct mail responsibilities anyway (we see you!).

Even larger, more resourced charities will find it valuable for training team members who need to sharpen their direct mail skills.

Basically, if you’re juggling managing a direct mail program along with a dozen other responsibilities, or just starting your direct mail journey, this course was designed with you in mind.

The Individual Giving Collective is an educational offering from Good Works—a full-service Canadian fundraising agency based in Ottawa, Ontario.

For more than 30 years, Good Works has connected donors and charities across Canada through direct mail, digital campaigns, and legacy giving—all built on honest, human-centred, and ethical storytelling.

You can join DM 101: The Ultimate Guide to Executing a Direct Mail Campaign with virtually any background—whether you’re a complete beginner with no direct mail knowledge or an experienced practitioner looking to strengthen specific skills.

This course meets you where you are. New fundraisers will build comprehensive foundations from the ground up, while experienced professionals can fill knowledge gaps and refine their approach. You’ll elevate your program by mastering direct mail essentials like compelling storytelling, accessible design, strategic audience selection, and performance tracking.

We’ve designed the curriculum to transform participants at all levels into confident direct mail professionals with well-rounded expertise.

This course will transform your day-to-day work by equipping you with both practical skills and strategic understanding of direct mail fundraising. You’ll gain comprehensive, actionable knowledge spanning every crucial aspect of direct mail management, including copywriting, accessible design, ethical storytelling, segmentation, production management and reporting.

What sets this learning experience apart is how it connects the "how" with the "why." You’ll dive into the science of donor behavior, exploring psychological principles and neuroscience insights that drive response. These foundational concepts won’t just help you execute better campaigns today—they’ll inform your strategic decision-making throughout your entire fundraising career.

The efficiencies you’ll discover are immediate and significant. No more wasted time and resources on trial-and-error approaches or disconnected tactics. You’ll learn insider techniques for working effectively with designers, print vendors, and lettershops. What’s more, the templates and frameworks provided will streamline your workflow, allowing you to accomplish more while reducing stress.

This isn’t just professional development—it’s an investment in becoming the kind of fundraiser who can build and sustain revenue-generating programs that fuel your organization’s mission for years to come.

IGC’s DM 101 stands apart as the only comprehensive direct mail course that covers the entire campaign process in one place. Unlike other offerings that focus solely on theory or writing, we deliver practical, actionable knowledge spanning copywriting, creative development, data management, production logistics and campaign reporting.

What’s truly unique is our in-depth coverage of production complexities, audience segmentation, and data management—skills not taught elsewhere. You’ll gain exclusive insider techniques for working effectively with designers, print vendors, and lettershops, allowing you to navigate these relationships with confidence.

Best of all, everything you learn can be immediately applied to your organization’s campaigns, turning knowledge into results right away.

No more cobbling together multiple courses or struggling to translate abstract concepts. DM 101 delivers the complete toolkit you need to build, grow and manage a successful direct mail program.

DM 101 is a 6-week course that features captivating video lessons, knowledge-checking quizzes, practical assignments that build your skills, and live webinar sessions where you can interact directly with instructors.

The course is offered entirely online and can be completed from the comfort of your home or office. Each weekly module contains:

• Up to 75 minutes of pre-recorded (on-demand) videos
• One live learning session (up to 90 minutes), held each Thursday at 1pm ET
• One weekly assignment, returned to you with personalized feedback from the course instructors
• Online community discussion boards
• Class notes and recordings, helpful templates, and bonus research and resources to explore

You should plan to spend about 3 hours each week engaging with on-demand content, participating in live learning sessions, completing assignments, and joining community discussions.

You’ll never feel alone in your fundraising journey with the Individual Giving Collective. Our dedicated instructors are genuinely accessible to you—not just during weekly live sessions and community discussions, but anytime you need guidance. Beyond providing thoughtful feedback on your assignments, they’re ready to respond to your emails whenever questions arise or concepts need clarification, for the duration of the course.

You’ll have access to the course content and resources for 3 months following completion of the course. We allow and encourage you to download everything to your personal device for future reference.

The professional development budget squeeze is real, particularly for nonprofits these days.

Your organization naturally wants to know how investing in your growth will strengthen their mission. They’re looking for tangible returns—improved fundraising outcomes and enhanced program delivery.

While you recognize the course’s value, convincing leadership might require some thoughtful communication. That’s why we’ve developed a ready-to-use template email for you. Simply download it, add your personal touch, and share it with your manager to help make your case.

Yes! Full participation in DM 101: The Ultimate Guide to Executing a Direct Mail Campaign is applicable for 18 points in Category 1.B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification. 

Live learning sessions take place each week on Thursdays at 1pm ET, and will be no more than 90 minutes in length. We’ll send you meeting invites to mark the space in your calendars.

Learning content, videos, templates and resources are released every Friday for the duration of the course.

As part of our commitment to equity and inclusion in the fundraising sector, we’re making the DM 101: The Ultimate Guide to Executing a Direct Mail Campaign course available through an accessible pricing model.

Visit DM 101: The Ultimate Guide to Executing a Direct Mail Campaign to learn more, and determine the rate that reflects your current situation and level of organizational support.

View our instructor’s bios to learn more about your lead instructor, as well as the many experienced guests that will join your learning journey. All of our instructors are fundraisers at Good Works, a full-service Canadian fundraising agency based in Ottawa, Ontario.

We want you to be completely satisfied with your Individual Giving Collective experience. DM 101 is a live, cohort-based course with weekly sessions and progressive content release.

Full refunds are available up to the end of Week 1 (Friday, 8am ET). This allows you to experience the first week of learning modules and one live session to decide if the course is right for you. Simply email us at [email protected] to cancel your registration.

No refunds will be issued after the Friday of Week 2 when that week’s content is released.

If unexpected circumstances like medical emergencies or family situations arise that prevent your participation, please contact us directly. We review these situations on a case-by-case basis and may offer options like transferring to a future course session or credit toward other IGC program.