Summary / objectives

The NSPCC’s sole purpose of this mailing was to thank their amazing (their word) supporters for the work that they enable them to do to help protect children and prevent abuse.

They wanted to thank their most committed donors, regular givers, cash donors and raffle players, for their support during 2013, to show them the impact that their donations had had on the lives of children and to make them feel valued and important to the NSPCC.

As a result of this thank you, NSPCC was hoping to encourage donors to continue supporting NSPCC in the coming year and beyond. But there was no financial ask associated with the mailing and the whole pack was designed around simply saying ‘thank you’, with no strings attached – which they feel is incredibly important.

Background

NSPCC’s receives incredible feedback from the children they have supported and often this comes in the form of poems or drawings expressing their gratitude to NSPCC for their help.

They wanted to show these poems and drawings together in a small booklet – the Little Book of Thank Yous, alongside some of the stories of the children they support so that the donors could clearly and immediately see the impact of their donations on the lives of the children. 

Creator / originator

Although NSPCC send out annual thank-you mailings and have used child-generated content previously they have not tended to include an engagement device such as the one in this pack, which asked supporters to send a message of thanks to all those supporting children in 2014.

Special characteristics

The small purple envelope is bright and colourful with a handwritten font.

Inside a heart-warming letter from the NSPCC’s new chief executive explains how proud he is of the organisation he leads and the donor supports.

Best of all, there’s a little booklet with a big smiley face on the front. Inside there is something wonderful – a collection of real stories, drawings and poems by the children the donor is helping. No stats. No organisational messages. No asks. Just the real unvarnished truth of how an NSPCC donor helps children feel. 

Influence / impact

The booklet is powerful enough to make people feel close to the children and the work again. Powerful enough to inspire them to send gifts and increase their direct debits (even though they haven’t been asked). Powerful enough to make them send their own messages back and even disclose their own experiences of abuse.

Results

NSPCC were delighted with the results of this campaign, especially given that this was a stewardship campaign with no forecast income against it.

There was no ask in the mailing and no donation form was included in the pack, although there was a business reply envelope (BRE) included to retain the engagement messages.

Nearly 3,500 messages of thanks were received, as well as over 600 cash gifts and 28 donors upgraded their existing regular gifts.

NSPCC included cross-sell opportunities such as details on forthcoming events that were highlighted on the calendar included in the pack.

Some supporters responded to say that they had previously been unaware that they could participate in fundraising challenge events and, as a result of this mailing, they signed up for NSPCC’s Great Wall of China walk.

The messages of support NSPCC received, alongside the stories from supporters telling them about their own experience of abuse, show a strong feeling of connection to the NSPCC and recognition of the importance of their work.

Merits

What stands out with this campaign is the fact that the mail out was not asking for any sort of donation or gift. It was simply designed to issue a heart-warming thank you to many who have contributed. The pack was small, simple, warm and powerful. It enables the words and pictures of children affected by abuse to be put in the supporters’ hands.

It’s easy to put together an organisational ‘thank you’ pack. It’s much harder to closely connect supporters with the powerful impact of their work – and with the children who are affected by it.

A pack with no ask that generates a large volume of donations and upgrades, as well as thousands of messages from supporters – including disclosures of decades-old abuse – that’s a pack that uses the medium of direct mail well.