Meet the Broker: Jill Cohen

Today we meet Jill Cohen, president of Prospect Direct Inc., a Milwaukee-based list brokerage and management firm that works with Jewish nonprofit organizations.

Cohen, who has master’s degree in classical languages and literature, was attracted to the list business because it provided an opportunity for her to work with organizations within the Jewish community.

“My background obviously has nothing to do with direct mail marketing, but I didn’t want to pursue teaching. I like the idea of working with these organizations and I feel connected to them,” says Cohen.

She entered the list profession in 1985 working for A.B. Data Ltd. Cohen moved on and co-founded RC Direct Inc. in 1991. She changed the name of the company to Prospect Direct at the end of 1993 when her partner left.

Cohen splits her time between list brokerage and management. Roughly 90% of her brokerage work involves direct mail fundraising and probably three-quarters of the deals she brokers involve list exchanges, rather than list rentals.

Her brokerage clients include such organizations as the American Committee for Shaare Zedeck Medical Center, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network, Israel Special Kids Fund and the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry.

Cohen is married and has one adult son. Her passions outside of work include gardening, reading and attending opera performances in her hometown Milwaukee and in New York City. “And I love taking long walks on weekends. It’s a great way for me to unwind,” she says.

What makes the Jewish list market unique?

Many Jewish lists are available, and most are small files released only on a limited basis for exchanges. Selections are typically limited to recency or dollar, as demographic and other selects are rarely available.

“In the Jewish market a list with 100,000 names is considered a big list. A lot of the lists I’m dealing with have fewer than 10,000 names and some only have 5,000 names,” she says.

The duplication rate runs high for Jewish lists. It’s not unusual to lose 50% of the names after merge-purge list processing is completed, adds Cohen.

Given that counts are usually small if a client wants to mail 250,000 pieces, Cohen needs to recommend numerous files to start with half million names, before eliminating the duplicates, she says.

What’s the current state of the Jewish list market?

“I think it’s healthy and it’s growing,” says Cohen.

Postal lists continue to dominate the market and Cohen says she doesn’t anticipate that will change anytime soon. “Direct mail is still the best way to find new donors,” she says.

Although more e-mail and telemarketing sourced files have become available in recent years, Cohen says they hold little appeal to her, because the response pales in comparison to postal-generated lists of Jewish donors.

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