UNCF Transforms Students’ Lives with Successful Donation Outreach | Nonprofit
10/14/2026
RRD’s direct mail and data capabilities deliver fast and effective outreach to support student access to higher education
For more than 80 years, UNCF has raised more than $6 billion, helping more than 550,000 students attend college, graduate, and develop into future leaders. UNCF supports students in three ways: awarding more than 11,000 students with scholarships worth more than $62 million each year; providing financial support to 36 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs); and serving as the nation’s leading advocate for HBCUs, minority education, and college readiness.
CHALLENGE
As a nonprofit committed to providing scholarships for minority students, UNCF relies on consistent donor contributions and support. The organization is wholly committed to awarding funding to as many students as possible. However, due to current donation figures, for every 10 students who apply for a UNCF scholarship, only one can be awarded funding. To elevate and grow their fundraising campaigns, UNCF sought a direct mail program that would solidify personal connections with donors, strengthen relationships, and generate greater lifetime value.
Though UNCF had worked with smaller, independent contractors in the past, their leaders knew it was time to look for a more established direct mail partner to tap into greater fundraising potential and expand the organization’s reach. Creativity, data capabilities, and campaign expertise would be critical requirements for the D.C.-based nonprofit. Ultimately, UNCF sought to retain donors, leverage their database of potential contributors, and generate the unrestricted funds needed to support member HBCUs and provide students with scholarships.
SOLUTION
Throughout a highly productive, decades-long working relationship, RRD has collaborated with UNCF to ensure the deployment of fully integrated direct mail campaigns that drive performance and demonstrate the nonprofit’s ongoing value.
Currently, RRD enables UNCF to reach more than four million prospective donors each year through direct mail campaigns. RRD’s data management capabilities optimize outreach by utilizing UNCF’s extensive database of donors. By identifying and prioritizing new audiences, UNCF creates targeted direct mail campaigns that help increase access to unrestricted funding. These donations directly support student scholarships and member HBCUs with administrative costs, faculty development, and infrastructure improvements.
“RRD was determined to help UNCF find a way to bring in more unrestricted funds, and direct mail has proven to be a strong fundraising engine for us,” says Denise Scott, UNCF’s Vice President of Direct Response Programs.
RRD also ensures that every mailing’s message and design resonates with the right audience. Each year, UNCF delivers over a dozen different renewal mailings. Proven testing methodologies evaluate these campaign components so that the most up-to-date messaging and design elements are used. This targeted approach helps drive engagement and build those personal connections that keep UNCF at the top of donors’ minds.
In addition to targeting the right audiences with tailored messaging, RRD helps UNCF accommodate unanticipated fluctuations in donor contributions. For instance, during the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, the organization’s direct mail contributions rose from $8 million to nearly $19 million that year. Recognizing the likelihood that donation levels would continue to fluctuate, UNCF worked with RRD to implement a maintenance action plan.
“Six years later, we’ve been able to maintain about 70% of those revenues,” says Scott. “That’s nearly $7 million ahead of where we were in 2020. To us, that is a testimony to serious strategic thinking, adjustments, and pivoting as times change.”
RESULTS
Throughout their partnership, RRD has supported UNCF’s donation outreach, helping the organization:
- Create targeted direct mail campaigns that strengthen donor relationships
- Deliver tailored messaging and design that resonates with audiences
- Pivot quickly to accommodate fluctuations in donor contributions
- Establish a maintenance action plan to preserve contribution levels