In its "Direct Marketing Facts & Figures in the Nonprofit Industry" report, the Direct Marketing Association anticipates strong growth for its industry in the nonprofit sector.

Nonprofits typically do not have much money to experiment with, so their marketing budgets are more conservative than for-profit firms' budgets. As a result, nonprofits rely more on direct marketing and its measurable results to make every penny count.

The DMA forecasts that nonprofit advertising expenditures will grow at an annual rate of 2.4% through 2012. Meanwhile, sales from direct marketing efforts will grow at 6.8% annually over the same five-year period, meaning there will be an increasing return on investment for direct marketing dollars spent by nonprofits.

When it comes to online advertising expenditures, educational services and religious organizations tied for the lead in 2007, with $161.6 million each.

Religious organizations also spent the most of any nonprofit sector on direct mail and insert media, at $1.3 billion and $29.3 million respectively.