Inter­val House: the grat­i­tude report

Exhibited by
John Lepp, Partner, Agents of Good.
Added
January 25, 2012
Medium of Communication
Direct mail, online
Target Audience
Individuals
Type of Charity
Children, youth and family, poverty / social justice, women
Country of Origin
Canada
Date of first appearance
2011

SOFII’s view

This special annual, oops sorry, gratitude report does a great job in so many ways. It not only thanks donors, it really shows how much the organisation appreciates them and what they help to achieve. Each page features an individual – a volunteer, donor, someone Interval House has helped – and each starts with the word ‘celebrating’. The ‘celebrated’ person then talks about Interval House and what it means to them. It’s not the ‘organisation’ talking, yet we learn so much about it and the work they do.

We love all the white space and the monstrous type size, but SOFII can be a little curmudgeonly at times, so a point off for using a sans serif typeface.

Creator / originator

Agents of Good / Interval House.

Summary / objectives

To produce a report that spends copious amounts of time thanking and celebrating its donors and reports back on the good that was accomplished thanks to their support.

Background

For the past three years we have been working with Interval House on their annual ‘annual’ report. First things first, we scrapped that and called it what it really was: a ‘gratitude’ report.

In year one, our vision was to leave donors feeling active and engaged right from the title. Together, we walked them through each room at Canada’s first centre for abused women and children, telling positive and powerful stories that showed their gift in action. We also wanted to showcase the unique and sacred space that is Interval House – this is not an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution.

Year two we reverted back to classic storytelling, all from the perspective of one woman who moves through the Interval House, getting the help and healing she needs.

And this exhibit, for year three, centres around the smallest but the most important celebration – the celebration of the donor. Our multi-channel approach based on thoughtful segmentation: postcard and e-blast driving traffic to online version, mailed hard copy.

Special characteristics

Working with Dan Banko, photographer and fellow agent, we shot all of the photographs with an iPhone to add some warmth and imperfections to the design. There was also special consideration for readers’ eyes: the type is monstrous and there is plenty of white space.

Influence / impact

Will just be arriving in donor mailboxes this week.

Costs

$10,000 Canadian.

Merits

Too many annual reports are navel-gazing affairs that are far too long and far too boring for most donors. Worst of all, some leave them (the donors) out completely. Every annual report we create for our clients focuses on love for its donors and acknowledgement that all this good would never happen without them.