Amnesty International: the pen pack

by SOFII

Amnesty needed a powerful and effective means of recruiting new donors to their great cause. This was it. This was, as far as we know, the first ever occasion when a free pen was included in an acquisition mailing, in the UK at least. This mailing was both brilliantly successful and started a trend that led to a flood of imitators.

SOFII has just restructured its massive direct mail, door drops and household deliveries showcase – the world’s biggest and best direct mail swipe file. Check it out here.

Amnesty International UK: Virtual reality street fundraising

by SOFII

Face-to-face (or street) fundraising often receives criticism, but this is an example of it at its best. Using virtual reality headsets, Amnesty International UK showed how devastating barrel bombs are to the people of Syria. Keep reading to find out how they created the campaign, then watch an IWITOT 2023 presentation that shows how this concept is still inspiring fundraisers and captivating donors at a variety of charities – eight years later. 

Amnesty International: the letter in the pen pack

by Ken Burnett

Now on SOFII, one of the letters that was sent with the legendary Amnesty pen pack. This moving example of fine writing was written specifically for women and sent to women only.

Amnesty International: Le ‘pen pack’

by Jenny Craven

Amnesty avait besoin d'un moyen puissant et efficace de recruter les donateurs à leur grande cause. Ce mailing était le moyen de la faire. C'était, pour autant qu'on sache, la première fois qu'un stylo gratuit était ci-joint dans un mailing de recrutement, au moins au Royaume-Uni. Ce mailing était excellemment réussi et il provoqué une tendance qui menait à une poussée des imitateurs.

Amnesty International UK: gli annunci stampa che hanno scioccato un’intera nazione

by Tiziana Fattori

Questi annunci stampa hanno cambiato lo scenario politico inglese, diffondendo in generale una maggiore coscienza sociale e, più in particolare, l’attenzione verso il rispetto dei diritti umani. Lessi a quel tempo uno di questi annunci e immediatamente mi iscrissi ad Amnesty (è quello che lancia un botto a Margareth Thatcher). Ancora una volta, Indra Sinha dimostra di essere un vero esperto negli annunci di fundraising redazionali.

Amnesty International: the shame Shell campaign

by SOFII

This exciting exhibit from Amnesty International UK reveals new and innovative ways to keep your donors at the heart of your next campaign.

Amnesty International Australia: David Hicks press insert 2007

by SOFII

The clever presentation of a compelling message and the chance for involvement in a campaign that could make a real, tangible difference presented AIA…

Amnesty International: throw-away insert campaign

by SOFII

Amnesty International’s fundraising is rarely other than enterprising, inspirational and effective and this insert doesn’t fail to live up to expectations. Here, Amnesty International used people’s contrary instincts about the medium to their benefit by creating an insert with a warning not to open it.

Amnesty International UK: press ads that shook a nation

by SOFII

These ads changed the political shape of Britain, raised social consciousness generally as well as concerns for human rights in particular.We do not have all the details about this campaign but SOFII decided to showcase it because we believe that every fundraiser wherever he or she works should be familiar with these ads and what they achieved.