Summary / objectives

Age Action were looking to develop a direct mail pack that would recruit new donors to the charity. 

The appeal focused on a specific part of the Age Action Care and Repair service, which is a service that does DIY (do it yourself) jobs around the house for older people. The appeal focused on a specific part of that service called ‘hospital jobs’. This is where Age Action maintenance people do jobs around the house – specifically jobs that need to be done before someone can leave the hospital and come home. These could be as simple as moving a bed downstairs, putting safety rails up in key locations or removing a saddle board on a doorway for ease of access for a wheelchair. 

Ultimately, the appeal reminded the donor that ‘there is no fireside like your own’ and asked them to give a gift that would help bring people home for Christmas and beyond. 

Creator / originator

Steve Swingler Creative Limited and Christopher Nield (copywriter) developed this direct mail appeal for Age Action 

Background

Age Action had not run any direct mail appeals since 2021. As a result, our mailing list of donors had become quite small, with only a limited number of past supporters still on file.

In 2024, we were working to rebuild our direct mail programme, reconnect with lapsed donors, and grow our mailing list again. Given that our core audience is usually older people, we wanted to create an appeal that truly resonated with them.

That’s why we based the appeal around an old Irish saying ‘níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin’, meaning there is no fireside like your own. 

We aimed to tap into a shared experience – the comfort of returning home from a sterile hospital environment to your own bed, surrounded by your familiar things. This feeling is something many can relate to, and we hoped it would inspire supporters to give.

Special characteristics

The direct mail pack was made up of a C5 outer envelope, a four page A4 letter (printed on both sides of two sheets of paper), an A6 lift piece, an A4 donation form (printed on both sides), a reply envelope and a small card which the donor could return with their gift.  

Welcome home card: We asked the donors to fill out and return a card that would be left in the home of people that we completed hospital jobs in. These cards greeted people home, some of whom would have nobody to meet them at the door. 

Corporate match: A number of corporate donors offered to match the donations made by 10 January 2025. This gave the donor an extra reason to give and a specific date to donate by. 

Imagery: One of the challenges for Age Action is that we often work with vulnerable people or those who wish to stay anonymous. To overcome this, the appeal focused on the stories of our maintenance people and used a combination of images from them, from our own family members who offered to model for the appeal, and stock images. 

Results

This cold direct mail appeal generated a response rate of 1.7 per cent with an average gift of EUR€65. 

We also sent a similar appeal (to a largely lapsed,  but slightly ‘warmer’ file) and generated a response rate of 11.5 per cent with an average gift of EUR€75. 

Final notes

Everyone who donated to the appeal received a thank you letter within a few days. Then, a few weeks later, new donors received a welcome pack consisting of a newsletter, a handwritten thank you card and a small knitted gift from our knitting volunteers. 

IMAGES: ©Age Action