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143 pages tagged with Direct mail:
- Friends of the Earth: Looking after supporters when the media storm hit When a media storm hit the sector and put fundraising under the microscope, Friends of the Earth acted quickly to get in touch with their donors. They gave them the opportunity to comment both frankly and freely on how the organisation was communicating with them. But what did their supporters have to say?
- “Un tè per due”: la campagna di Guide Dogs NSW/ACT1 Vincitore di ben due premi, quest’appello di Guide Dogs non ha solamente superato i risultati delle campagne precedenti per raccolta fondi. Ha offerto anche l’opportunità ai tanti sostenitori di scoprire una nuova faccia dell’organizzazione e dei suoi adorabili “protagonisti pelosi”, raccontando loro il lavoro che questi straordinari animali portano avanti per aiutare adulti e bambini affetti da cecità.
- Amnesty International: the letter in the pen pack 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: the pen pack 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.
- Are F-bombs acceptable for your fundraising? Reader advisory! This article contains strong profanity as Ephraim Gopin explores the dos and don’ts of swearing in charity communications.
- Arrels Fundació: cardboard hearts for the homeless Arrels Fundació have come up with an excellent way to wear your heart on your sleeve to raise money and awareness of the growing number of homeless people in Barcelona. It is also easily copied.
- Arthritis Care: ‘people like us’ campaign This colourful, imaginative campaign recruited new members at one third of previous costs because it’s creative, engaging and thought-provoking. It stirred people from their daily routine into doing something different.
- Asking your donors the right way – six tips to build relationships and giving Fundraisers, we all know it can be hard to make the ask. Whether you need to speak to your donor in person or on paper, it’s not easy to ask for the donations that your organisation and your beneficiaries need. In this article, copywriter and consultant George Crankovic shares six useful tips to help you make that all-important request.
- Association of International Cancer Research: Inspiring Stories Book By creating real, personal, one-to-one conversations, AICR not only inspired their supporters, they also made them feel as though they really cared.
- Audubon Society of Rhode Island: special recognition of long-time donors The Audubon Society of Rhode Island’s superb care for their donors and courage in their approach have produced results that will be the envy of charitable organisations everywhere.
- Australian Conservation Foundation: end of year appeal By changing the way that donors were asked for support, ACF was able to triple income and response with this mailing. It is a brilliant example of a credible, compelling and engaging direct mail piece to a warm audience.
- Book Aid International: the Reverse Book Club This medium level structured monthly giving scheme is a good example of a fundraising product that has been specifically designed to fit the needs of donors to a very particular and specific cause.
- Botton Village ‘Frances’ pack Botton Village was a pioneer of relationship fundraising. This is fundraising direct mail as it should be – sincere, engaging, heart-warming and very compelling.
- Botton Village: il “messaggio di Frances” Botton Village e’ stata una vera e propria pioniere nel cosidetto “fundraising relazionale”. Questo e’ esattamente quello che un buon direct mail di raccolta fondi dovrebbe essere: sincero, coinvolgente, caldo ed estremamente convincente.
- British Heart Foundation: the ‘calculate the cost of heart disease’ mailing This is irresistible. How could any cost-conscious businessman or woman resist playing with this gadget to get an idea of what heart disease is costing his or her bottom line each year?
- Bush Heritage Australia: Autumn appeal turned donor care pack Bush Heritage Australia shows you how you can achieve surprising results by thanking, acknowledging and inspiring your donors, even if you never ask for money.
- Cancer Research UK: the letter from cancer At first glance you might think, wow, this mailing from Cancer Research UK is clever and a bit different. It surely will make people angry enough so that they give money that will beat cancer: an admirable ambition. But what would you think if you have cancer?
- CDE project 11b summary: direct mail How can we plan better as a sector to avoid individuals being inundated with our communications and ensure that that our messages get the attention they deserve rather than all being lost in such a crowded space?
- CDE project 11b: appendix 1 Additional income plus cost savings from a digital print strategy - a direct mail case study from World Vision.
- CDE project 11b: part one - direct mail that works Introduction and some basics.
- CDE project 11b: part two - output from the direct mail workshop and recommendations to improve the donor experience Examples of direct mail and recommendations to improve the donor experience. Recommendation one.
- CDE project 11b: recommendation 6 - thank properly and great customer service Thank personally and quickly. As project 6 on emotion recommends, fundraiser’s should aspire to be ‘famous for frequent, fast, fabulous feedback’.
- CDE project 11b: recommendations to improve the donor experience - four and five Recommendation 4: Be smart with data Recommendation 5: Have a great offer and compelling reason to give
- CDE project 11b: recommendations to improve the donor experience - two and three Recommendation 2: Think about how donors FEEL. Recommendation 3: Be an ambassador, as well as a fundraiser
- CDE project 11b: the three key and separate steps to crafting a great DM appeal Step 1: the proposition. Step 2: the concept. Step 3: the do’s and don’ts of direct mail appeal writing and design.
- CDE project 23: part 3 - project 11 11. Communication with individual donors 11a. Mass Media 11b. Direct Mail 11c. Digital 11d. Community fundraising 11e. Telephone fundraising 11f. Face to face fundraising
- Celebrating Jerry Huntsinger – an exemplary fundraiser, writer, teacher and friend There is a very special showcase on SOFII that you might not know about – but you really should. It contains oodles of fundraising wisdom and it’s called, quite simply, The Jerry Huntsinger Tutorials.
- Centrepoint ‘sponsor a room’: donor acquisition This exhibit is proof that traditional direct response fundraising can still work in the current fundraising climate. It demonstrates simple yet effective press advertising combined with a clever use of digital technology.
- Cesvi ‘thank-you’ campaign One of Italy's largest international aid and development NGOs, Cooperazione e Sviluppo (co-operation and development), or Cesvi, took advantage of their president stepping down to send a simple, effective and personal letter to their 5,000 most loyal donors.
- Cesvi: ‘stop AIDS at birth’ campaign Cesvi launched the first fully integrated fundraising campaign in Italian history that was inspired by the words of HIV-positive child Nkosi Johnson at the International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000.
- Children’s Wish Foundation: the power of a story All nonprofits need to tell stories. Through storytelling you will build deeper connections with your supporters and, ultimately, raise more money for your cause.
- CPAR: ‘plant a tree in Ethiopia’ mailing Ethiopia has to be one of the most difficult fundraising markets in the world. Yet this pack produced results that most more sophisticated fundraisers can only dream of.
- Deerfield Academy: Bruce Barton’s fundraising letters from 1945, letters 3, 4 and 5 These letters are masterful examples of wrapping up serious information in easy conversational style. Find letters three, four and five here.
- Deerfield Academy: Bruce Barton’s fundraising letters from 1946/47, letters 6, 7 and 8 Featured here are letters six, seven and eight from the 21 letters in this SOFII series, three more fine examples of the fundraising letter-writer's art from an age gone by.
- Deerfield Academy: Bruce Barton’s fundraising letters from 1955 and 1956, letters 16 and 17 A four-year gap between Bruce Barton's letters for Deerfield Academy in no way diminished his exceptional capacity for penning a powerful appeal. Read, reflect and recycle, for there is real treasure here.
- Deerfield Academy: Bruce Barton’s fundraising letters from 1960, letter 22 It has been a pleasure and a privilege to bring you all these letters from that master of direct mail letter-writing, Bruce Barton. But, as the infamous ‘they’ say, ‘all good things must come to an end’. Yes, this is the last SOFII has. But, of course, as they also say, ‘the glass is half full’, so maybe there are more out there that will find their way to SOFII.
- Deerfield Academy: Bruce Barton’s fundraising letters from the 1940s, letters 1 and 2 Written between 1944 and 1960, the 22 letters in this series reputedly raised over US$2 million. Serious direct mail copywriters will study these letters carefully and will profit accordingly.
- Deerfield Academy: the Bruce Barton classic long copy letter from 1925 that pulled a 100 per cent response He sounds like the racy detective hero from a 1930s crime thriller. But Bruce Barton is something else, for sure – a great copywriter and communicator.
- Direct mail from Africa and Asia Four essential campaigns showcasing the innovation and skills of organisations in Africa and Asia.
- Direct mail from the UK From Friends of the Earth to Greenpeace, the RSPB to Mencap: a collection of the best direct mail campaigns from the UK.
- Direct marketing copy and the amazing power of fear Can fear be a primary motivating factor in direct mail? Denny Hatch certainly thinks so. In this blog Denny not only explains why, he also illustrates the point by analysing two remarkable letters.
- DM from the higher ed. sector There is a lot of inspiration to be had when it comes to direct mail from some of our greatest institutions: universities.
- Dogs Trust: ‘Home from Home’ direct mail appeal This bright, bold and compelling fundraising campaign from Dogs Trust exceeded all expectations. With a record number of dogs in need of homes, the ‘Home from Home’ appeal raised vital funds to expand the charity’s foster caring network. It smashed its targets and saved many dogs who had nowhere else to go.
- Dogs Trust: sponsor a dog One of the most imaginative, instructive adaptations of the concept fundraisers have dubbed ‘the best fundraising proposition of all time’.
- Dr Barnardo’s Homes: four fundraising greats from the distant past Dr Thomas Barnardo was one of the Victorian era's great philanthropists. These archive examples of his personal fundraising style and efforts are a unique treasure for the body of fundraising knowledge and best practice.
- Dr Barnardo’s Homes: how the death of Carrots led to a powerful slogan, from 1866 The death of a lonely young boy led Dr Barnardo to declare that the children’s homes that bore his name should never, ever close their doors to any child. A great example of fine writing combined with sincerity.
- Dr Barnardo’s Homes: quattro grandi raccolte fondi dal passato remoto Il Dr Thomas Barnardo fu uno dei maggiori filantropi dell'era Vittoriana. Questi esempi in archivio, con il suo personalissimo stile di fare fundraising e con le sue iniziative, sono un tesoro più unico che raro per l'intero patrimonio di esperienze nel fundraising e delle sue buone prassi.
- European ideas worth swiping Get your passports ready as we travel around Europe to explore some of the great direct mail ideas currently working wonders across the continent.
- EveryChild Gift Aid: ‘mop-up’ campaign For any UK charity, reclaiming tax on donations going back the last four years could be a huge windfall. This case study shows you how it’s done... because after sending out this successful direct mail piece, EveryChild’s average Gift Aid claim was £165 per response.
- Farm Africa: a thank-you letter and gift This is just a very nice thank-you letter that is easy to copy, though perhaps it would be best not to do so directly, but rather to adapt the idea behind it in a way that’s distinctive, individual and personal to your cause.
- Goderich medical clinic campaign A really lovely appeal, which shows that it pays to have a couple of direct mail professionals living in your town. In this case, holiday residents Mary Attfield and Steve Thomas set about organising a simple but effective local appeal to make sure local people could have access to their own doctors.
- Great ideas from Down Under We look at great campaigns and novel ideas from the wonderful shores of Australia and New Zealand.
- Great ideas from the USA From sea to shining sea fundraisers in the United States are leading innovators and inspirers, notably in the field of direct mail campaigns.
- Great Ormond Street Hospital: Christmas mailing from 1941 This direct mail appeal from 1941 has everything. Charm, courage, dedication and, perhaps most importantly, it is brilliantly innovative too. Plus, how many mailings have been preserved for 70 years and then end up being sold? Find out more in this great case study.
- Greenpeace Frontline: launch of a high level monthly giving scheme This was an early monthly giving scheme by Greenpeace UK. Within a short while, one fifth of all its income was coming from Frontline members.
- Greenpeace UK: their cycle of renewal and reactivation mailings, the ‘countdown’ and ‘please and thank-you’ packs The two mailings shown here form part of Greenpeace UK’s renewal mailings cycle from the late 1980s. Each pack is short, punchy and based around a simple theme, encapsulated in a single word (each of which involves a powerful call to action and which are presented in a very Greenpeace way).
- Greenpeace UK’s ‘forget it’ pack reactivation mailings It’s easy now to forget that as recently as 20 years ago giving by direct debit was a comparative rarity. The paradigm for most fundraisers with large donor bases was the annual renewal cycle. This is the first mailing from a particularly good example of a renewal series, from Greenpeace UK.
- Greenpeace USA newsletter: the origami whale If you want to engage your donors give them something interesting and fun to do. This is an example of transforming the humble newsletter, with new energy and purpose, to deliver a real involving experience to supporters.
- Greenpeace’s optimistic tick-box suggestion: the ‘Stop Thorp’ campaign court case mailing This exhibit works on many levels. At first glance the reply form opposite looks innocuous enough but really it’s a brilliant illustration of how, in times of need, donors will respond warmly to help a cause when it is clearly in trouble.
- Guide Dogs NSW/ACT*: ‘tea for two’ appeal A double award-winner from the Guide Dogs of New South Wales that surpassed previous appeals not only in money but in showing how that the organisation does so much more for blind people, young and old, than training dogs: adorable as they might be.
- Habitat for Humanity: money back guarantee Would a money-back guarantee help your direct mail? Habitat for Humanity tried it, and the results were as interesting and instructive as were their reasons for doing it.
- Hannah’s innovative direct mail appeal Is real talent something you are born with, or can create, if you work at it really hard and smart? At best, we feel, it's a bit of both.
- Help the Aged ‘...little piece of plastic’ direct mail acquisition pack More than a year after this classic pack originally appeared on SOFII, its originator, Chris Stoddard, has come forward with the full story.
- Help the Aged: ‘you have this gift’ direct mail pack Both the text on the envelope and the incentive in this classic direct mail pack from the 1980s have been copied frequently.
- How I wrote it: the NSPCC’s Simple pack When Robbie Rae started working as a fundraising copywriter at the turn of the millennium, he felt that true masters of direct mail had perfected the art in all its form. Despite that, he thought that it was time to change the orthodoxy. Click here to discover how he wrote a hugely successful pack that did just that.
- How I wrote it: the Sharp HospiceCare conversion letter In the first of this SOFII series of interviews with leading fundraising writers, Fergal Byrne talks to Tom Ahern about a letter he wrote in 2002 for Sharp HospiceCare. Here Tom tells Fergal how he wrote this letter, explains his approach and takes us through the letter step by step.
- How Save the Dogs used a founder’s birthday for fundraising success Discover the multi-channel campaign that helped an Italian charity raise enough money to build a shelter for stray dogs.
- Humber River Hospital Foundation: ‘Humbert’ heartfelt message appeal Humbert was created by Humber River Hospital, not only to raise money, but to celebrate the generosity and kindness of their donors.
- Humber River Hospital Foundation: Direct mail appeal featuring Humbert It's amazing how many capital campaigns bewilder donors with architect’s drawings, graphs and complicated giving levels. But Humber River Hospital Foundation turned their backs on stuffy institutional instincts and introduced Humbert – their storyteller supreme. Meet him here and see the fabulous appeals that achieved 33 per cent growth in giving in less than a year.
- If you want their money, best not to insult them A goof by the UK Conservative Party in a fundraising letter shows just how careful you need to be with the data you're working from. Note: this article contains language that some may find offensive
- Inside secrets of the copywriter’s art – the ‘how I wrote it’ series Classic direct mail campaigns are explored and explained by the people who created them in this unique section of the DM showcase on SOFII.
- Inspiration from Canada O Canada! Our friends in the second-largest country on earth provide us with some superb examples of great direct mail fundraising.
- Interval House: the gratitude report This great report is hot off the press, so SOFII is looking forward to hearing what the readers think about their gratitude report.
- ISRT thank-you and welcome letter ISRT produced a ‘welcome pack on a single page’. This low cost example of donor relationship development shows fundraising creativity at its simplest and best. Every fundraising organisation could and should aspire to have a thank-you programme and materials at least as good as this.
- Jerry Huntsinger: 80-years young Jerry Huntsinger celebrated his eightieth birthday in July 2013. Since 1965, there has never been a year when he hasn’t had at least one control package being mailed nationally by a major nonprofit organisation. What an achievement.
- Jesse Jackson’s bid for the White House, 1988 Twenty years before the world had ever heard of Barack Obama, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was breaking new political ground with his campaign.
- L’appello natalizio con la “testa di carta” del University College di Londra Non c’è da stupirsi del fatto che il brief preparto dal University College di Londra (UCL) in cui si chiedeva di far rivivere il fondatore e filosofo Jeremy Bentham per raccogliere fondi, abbia lasciato la Direttrice Creativa di Bluefrog, Aline Reed, un po’ perplessa inizialmente.Fortunatamente, facendo qualche ricerca e prendendo appunti, l’idea geniale è arrivata: una “richiesta di riscatto al contrario”. Incuriositi? Basta leggere questa scheda per saperne di più.
- L’appello speciale di Save the Children: compra un mattone Questo appello speciale di Save the Children ha superato il target inziale di ben £150.000. E in termini di acquisizione ha raggiunto il break-even. E così è stato possibile inaugurate nuove cliniche e salvare tante piccole vite. Obiettivo raggiunto!
- L’Associazione Parkinson inglese: la campagna di Dave il Verme Dave il Verme e’ un personaggio divertente e arguto che ha permesso all’Associazione Parkinson Inghilterra di diventare competitivo rispetto ad altre NGO. E cosi’anche il tema della ricerca scientifica diventa interessante e coinvolgente tanto da convincere i sostenitori ad attivare una donazione regolare a favore della causa.
- La fondazione Arrels: cuori di cartone per i senzatetto La Fondazione Arrels ha trovato un ottimo modo trasformare un piccolo cuore di cartone da semplice spilla ad uno strumento per raccogliere fondi e richiamare l’attenzione sul problema dei senzatetto di Baracellona. Un’idea semplice e facilmente repicabile.
- La lettera di Hannah: un appello originale Il vero talento è innato oppure è qualcosa che, con il duro lavoro, si può conquistare? Secondo noi di SOFII la verità sta nel mezzo.
- La lettera in farsi di CHATS in occasion del Norooz E’ un assioma da sempre nel direct marketing: quando si comunica ai donatori è necessario usare il “loro” linguaggio e non il “nostro”. Ed eccone un piccolo esempio.
- Life Education Australia: ‘Healthy Harold’ and the giraffe business appeal With a target audience of only a few hundred prospective donors, fundraiser Steve Thomas (of ST) and charity Life Education brought in thousands of Australian dollars with this iconic campaign.
- Longwood Gardens direct mail membership acquisition pack Colourful and creatively appealing, this package is also a textbook example of good direct mail acquisition practice.
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art: capital campaign How direct mail and the phone together can secure massive support from lower dollar donors. By following the approach described here, nonprofit organisations that find it difficult to reach very wealthy donors can supplement their capital campaign.
- Make–A–Wish Foundation: high value direct mail appeal The innovative proposal format singles out this interesting, informative and award-winning direct mail pack for special attention on SOFII.
- Médecins sans Frontières: ‘field partners’ Without doubt all fundraisers want regular givers and lots of them. This is a great example of how to convert your existing supporters from random one-off gifts to planned regular giving, and how charities can change the giving behaviour of existing supporters.
- Medical Aid for Palestinians: Two Christmas appeals, one wish for Palestine In this case study Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) share how they built on great donor relationships to power not one but two Christmas campaigns in just a month. Keep reading to find out how they did it and discover the surprising results!
- Medici Senza Frontiere: “soci sul campo” Non c’e’ dubbio che qualsiasi fundraiser desideri reclutare molti donatori regolari. Questo e’ un esempio riuscito di come sia possibile convertire donatori one-off in donatori regolari, andando cosi’ a modificare il comportamento di donazione dei propri sostenitori.
- Mencap: Christmas appeal This is a colourful, well-designed appeal that makes very good use of an attractive and appropriate involvement device to raise more money – and make donors feel good.
- Mennonite Central Committee Canada: Tigray, Ethiopia crisis appeal Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada wanted to help refugees of the Tigray crisis in Ethiopia, but they’d only just finished an appeal for victims of the war in Ukraine. Would their kind donors be willing to give again so soon? Find out what happened next, here.
- Mith Samlanh Cambodia: the ‘buy a brick’ land campaign Ah, that great fundraising stalwart, the brick! How a standard product and colourful involvement device saved a splendid children’s home from having to close its doors. This capital campaign encourages individual supporters to ‘buy a brick’ and help Friends International to buy its Mith Samlanh Centre, Phnom Penh.
- Musings of a direct response fundraiser no. 1: revisiting the basics In this first article in a new series focusing on what you really need to know about direct marketing for fundraising, seasoned Australian fundraiser Jonathon Grapsas sets out some of the direct-mail basics. They might surprise you…
- Musings of a direct response fundraiser no. 2: finding the ‘sweet spot’ Our job as fundraisers is to find the sweet spot: an amount that is appropriate to that donor at that time. In his second article on the musings of a direct response fundraiser Jonathon Grapsas shows exactly how to do it.
- National Trust for Scotland: ROOTS regular giving campaign For membership organisations, recruiting regular givers isn’t always easy – but with a beautiful new regular giving product, the National Trust for Scotland certainly succeeded.
- NSPCC’s thank-you mailing This bright, colourful direct mail pack is a winner all of itself. With the delightful, powerful booklet as well it couldn’t fail to inspire donors to send their own messages and, indeed, send in another donation to the cause they love.
- Ontario Nature: ‘Ruby the hummingbird’ mailing This unusual example of direct mail tells a complex, moving story in an imaginative and very engaging way.
- Operation Raleigh: toilet paper mailing Truly, the best fundraising is almost invariably the most simple and most direct. This mailing also successfully shows the value of writing ‘from the field’, in a distinctive way.
- Parkinson’s UK: the Dave the Worm campaign Dave the Worm (DTW) is a fun and witty character that is enabling Parkinson’s UK to compete in a crowded marketplace by presenting research to donors in an engaging way and giving them a unique opportunity to regularly support new and innovative research.
- Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation: Wings of Hope appeal
- Rainforest Rescue: ‘You can help build the Daintree’s largest nursery’ Discover how a small but visionary environmental charity exceeded all expectations when it came to both fundraising and planting more trees.
- RNLI: the legacy letter This is a classic example of a direct appeal to supporters, asking for information that will help plan future income. The candid, plain-speaking, respectful copy reminds supporters that RNLI relies heavily on legacies to fund their work. You can read the whole thing here.
- SAVE FINZ: Emergency direct mail appeal Facing difficult financial straits due to coronavirus, the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand launched an unprecedented matched funds appeal and brought in support from all around the world.
- Save the Children: Buy a brick capital appeal This warm appeal from Save the Children beat its target by over £150,000 and acquisition approached break-even. Clinics were built and children’s lives were saved.
- Saying thank you nicely, in a letter Remembering to thank donors for their support is vital. Here are five direct mail ‘thank you’ campaigns that really made a difference.
- Secrets of direct mail 2: answering the right questions with your envelope In part two of our series on the ideas of Siegfried Vögele, Chris Keating explains how to use Vögele’s method in how envelopes are designed. Something that simple can make all the difference to your direct mail campaign. And you could also help some capybaras too.
- Secrets of direct mail 3: how people read letters How do potential donors react to direct mail letters? In part three of our series on the legendary Siegfried Vögele, we explain this important aspect of his approach.
- Secrets of direct mail 4: storytelling, fundraising and the dialogue method How does Siegfried Vögele’s dialogue method work in terms of storytelling? In the final piece in his series on the great man, fundraiser Chris Keating explores how and even asks why storytelling matters in fundraising.
- Sense: A magical Christmas appeal from Teddy Sense and Bluefrog share the creative and results from a super direct mail campaign that was sent to individual donors. It proves that, if used properly, direct mail appeals to your supporters can, and will, achieve great results for your charity.
- SOFII stars: the world’s best fundraising direct mail. Check out some of the world's best fundraising direct mail. A priceless swipe file: 2000 years of fundraising direct mail. From all the direct marketing gems on SOFII, from the ancient to the bang-up-to-date, here's a selection of great fundraising direct mail, to inspire you. Enjoy!
- Southern Poverty Law Center: Partners for the Future legacy letter and brochure These two items – a single page letter and 16-page booklet, which together constitute a single legacy-promotion direct mail package, represent an outstanding effort in legacy marketing by one of the leading practitioners of the direct marketing art in the USA, the Southern Poverty Law Center.
- St Michael’s Hospital Foundation: data-based planned giving campaign delivers heavenly results St Michael’s Hospital Foundation’s in-depth analysis and profiling of their donor lists has gone a long way towards answering the oft-repeated question: are we marrying the needs of the donor with the needs of the cause in order to achieve a common goal?
- St. Patrick’s Home of Ottawa Foundation: ‘One Song’ direct mail This warm direct mail appeal has it all. Using great copy and simple and effective design, the appeal begins a beautiful conversation with each donor. Unsurprisingly, the results and emotional responses from supporters of St. Pat’s prove that taking time to craft a special appeal can really pay off. Dive in and get inspired before writing your next appeal.
- St. Vincent de Paul: Bear direct mail brings cute and cuddly back to Christmas This festive direct mail campaign featured a cute, cuddly, heart-warming character called ‘Vincent the bear’. It was the first direct mail pack sent to warm donors who had been recruited online and the results prove that thinking positively and telling a great story really can lead to fundraising success.
- Steel Yard: ‘fund a day’ appeal Every now and then we see great fundraising ideas that can be easily adapted and adopted by other nonprofit organisations, particularly smaller ones. This example is particularly useful as it shows a small organisation raising money imaginatively to cover its general running costs.
- The best of the best of direct mail We bring you the best of the best: 17 incredible packs that we feel every fundraiser should be aware of and learn from.
- The Canadian Lung Association: Santa Door Drop It’s the simplicity of this door drop that really makes it a hit. And a Canadian classic no less! By recreating the ruddy cheeks, red garb and big beard of the classic Coca-Cola Santa, Steve Thomas and Ross Reid gave donors something familiar and fun to latch onto.
- The Children’s Center, Detroit: ‘children should be seen and not hurt’ winter appeal How the Children's Center in Detroit turned dwindling finances and donations into a huge success through a seamless, integrated, multi-channel campaign.
- The day World Vision welcomed me to their world Here is Laura Croudace’s personal account of a new form of face-to-face experiential donor recruitment. It all started when she spotted a mud hut when out shopping with her family one day.
- The Dogs Trust: sponsor a dog scheme, television commercials These television commercials are really part of the Dogs Trust sponsor a dog exhibit but they show such good use of DRTV they are worth an additional airing here. Unusually for nonprofit DRTV in the United Kingdom these ads made a profit from their first showing. Quite exceptionally, the early ads achieved a return on investment of five to one.
- The Lost Dogs’ Home, Melbourne: direct mail acquisition The Lost Dogs’ Home, Melbourne, Australia is not just an exemplary practitioner of donor-centred relationship fundraising, they are also highly original and innovative. This pack is a perfect example of how important it is to constantly strive to improve DM fundraising tools.
- The National Asthma Campaign: Straws mailing This revolutionary pack from 1991 features an irresistible involvement device, an easily detachable plastic drinking straw that readers are invited to detach, open and breathe through for less than a minute. It is an imaginative way of involving recipients and enabling them to feel for themselves what it’s like to live with asthma.
- The National Campaign for Tolerance: The Wall of Tolerance appeal The Southern Poverty Law Center is a hugely impressive organisation. It’s also an organisation that many donors feel most passionately about. This is one of the most moving and long-lasting donor involvement campaigns in the USA and represents some of the best that the direct marketer’s art can produce.
- THE PLAN: the launch of child sponsorship, Spain 1937 This exhibit focuses on a documentary film made by Plan International, which shows how the idea of child sponsorship emerged and grew as a response to the dangers faced by children in the Spanish civil war, more than 70 years ago.
- The Salvation Army: Christopher’s letter Stories, stories, stories they always produce great results. This one from the Salvation Army won the 2011 national fundraising campaign of the year at the 2011 Fundraising Instutute Australia Conference in Melbourne.
- The Salvation Army: UK Christmas appeal Some donors have rational reasons for giving, some have emotional reasons and some go on a journey. Our strategy was to model this behaviour, to take the insight and analysis to new levels of understanding.
- The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade: minute regarding the need for fundraising from 1788 This piece offers a unique insight into how, 220 years ago, funds were raised to help fight one of the greatest social evils of all time. In its formality, the 114-word single sentence of this solicitation has a distinctly quaint character.
- Toybox: Not just an Easter appeal During the coronavirus pandemic, Toybox (a charity dedicated to helping street children) came up with a clever campaign that gave their donors plenty of choice. What was the result? They raised average gift and smashed their fundraising target too.
- Treasures from SOFII’s archives Come and dive into SOFII’s extensive archive to discover superb direct mail campaigns from decades, even centuries, past.
- Trócaire: ‘Exceptional ask’ direct mail campaign With intelligent identification and targeting of donors, Irish charity Trócaire exceeded all their expectations with what they called an ‘exceptional ask’ aimed at specific donors. Having honed this strategy over time, it’s now paying off.
- Tutorial 57: stand in your donor’s shoes Someone somewhere is waiting for your mail. She could be a legacy prospect. Have you excluded her from your mailing list because she gave so little last time – even though she’s been making donations for years?
- Two of the greatest fundraising letters ever written In this fascinating article, marketing giant Denny Hatch presents two of the greatest fundraising letters of all time, and explains the complex, sometimes murky, story of how they came about.
- United Negro College Fund: David Ogilvy’s letter Go back in time to meet one of the commuters who, in 1968, found this superb letter from David Ogilvy on the seat of the train taking him home to his comfortable New York suburb.
- University of Leeds: direct mail cash appeal to alumni The direct mail appeal that raised more in 12 weeks than the University had raised in their previous eight years of sending mail appeals.
- University of Leeds: The calendar appeal This excellent mail appeal was a success thanks to a very smart theme where alumni shared their experiences and memories of their time at the University of Leeds. To check out the calendar and full creative, click read more.
- University of Leeds: the memories appeal This multi-channel ‘prospecting’ campaign from the University of Leeds enabled them to reach former students who had drifted away from their former university and exceeded its target by 56 per cent.
- University of Sheffield: Direct mail – the longer the better? Two page vs. four page letters How the University of Sheffield drew on best practices to challenge their own preconceptions and achieve markedly improved results.
- WaterAid’s plastic bag mailing Every day in developing countries thousands of women (mainly) face the difficult task of fetching and carrying water from its source to their homes. It’s a gruelling daily duty most donors would find very hard to imagine. Could this concept be applied imaginatively to a fundraising appeal? Of course it could!
- Welcome to SOFII’s direct mail showcase: contents and index Welcome to SOFII's direct mail, door drops and household deliveries showcase. We bring you a hatful of exceptional examples and words of wisdom that highlight the best direct mail and demonstrate how you can create your own brilliant packs and campaigns.
- Wise words on direct mail Experts discuss how to best create spectacular, inspirational and innovative direct mail campaigns that will connect with donors.
- Womankind Worldwide: donor recruitment mailing This high quality direct mail package cleverly involves donors in delivering support and practical encouragement to a real individual.
- Wood Green Animal Shelters: urgent £3 food appeal Wood Green, The Animals Charity changed their fundraising strategy and are now achieving better ROIs on their cold recruitment campaigns than ever before.
- WSPA: ‘Big bear build’ and ‘big bear rescue’ appeals This campaign clearly showed donors that they were highly valued by WSPA and that their support was making a difference. Having been on a journey with WSPA rescuing the captive bears since 2006, the donors were able to see the influence they had made as well as the change they could make possible now.
