We go out personally (door to door) to solicit our local businesses. I have a committe of about 10 people and I have assigned territories in different areas of where we live. ie one team may go to a large shopping center, another will go to another shopping center in a different part of town. It takes one or two mornings and then they are done. I think face to face is a better approach than mailing them.

I have read so many on the message board that solicit local business donations and get better responses than national. Well, I'm the other way around. With the exception of four donations from cafes, I have received absolutely zilch from local businesses after sending about 120 letters! Now, I'm no Antonio Banderas but I can write a great letter. Am I doing something wrong? Is there another strategy I'm not thinking of that would work? Phone calls to those businesses who didn't send anything go unreturned. Letters, obviously, go unanswered. I'm wasting my freakin' postage! Is it better to get a manager's name and send it directly to his or her attention? What do ya'll think?