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37 pages tagged with Direct mail:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Camp Oochigeas: Mid-value direct mail appeal An effective direct mail appeal is a wonderful opportunity to have an emotional conversation with your donors – as well as a chance for you to raise vital funds for your cause. This masterclass in direct mail has everything you need to craft your next engaging, target-busting direct mail pack.
- 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.
- Direct mail clinic #10 – The direct response super-hack If you’re tired of telling stories from your chief executive or director’s point of view, then you need to watch this video. Because too often, the voices we use (and their tendency to speak professionally) can get in the way of our storytelling AND our fundraising.
- Direct mail clinic #11 – Thank you Congratulations, you’ve made it to clinic #11. That means you have learned a lot about direct response. But as John says himself… this clinic is the most important one.
- Direct mail clinic #9 – How deep is your nerdiness? Yes, John Lepp admits he’s a direct mail nerd. And now that he’s got that confession off his chest, he wants to share as many nerdy fundraising things as possible in this clinic. It’s full of tried and tested direct mail tricks.
- Direct mail clinic #1 – All about marketing John Lepp kicks off his free clinics by explaining why direct mail is a phenomenal tool for fundraisers. He thinks it is the perfect way to start a conversation with your donor and raise more for good causes around the world.
- Direct mail clinic #2 – Envelopes In this direct mail clinic, John Lepp asks you to (please!) turn your attention to envelopes. They are one of the most misunderstood and often ignored parts of a fundraising appeal, but your envelope is key to ensuring a donor opens your pack and engages with what you have to say.
- Direct mail clinic #4 – What goes in the box? You probably know what goes in a direct marketing fundraising appeal, but do you know why each piece is there? And do you know why making simple changes to those pieces can have an impact on the success of your campaign? John Lepp has these answers and more, in his next direct mail clinic.
- Direct mail clinic #5 – A letter autopsy How confident are you in your letter writing? Are you looking for some useful tips before you write your next appeal? In clinic five, John takes on fundraising letters and shares some simple, effective tricks that will help you engage with your donors and raise more money.
- Direct mail clinic #6 – Tis the season It’s time to talk about one of the most important appeals of the year! Whatever you call it – Holiday, Festive, Christmas or End of Year – the campaign you mail in December often makes up a big part of your annual income target.
- Direct mail clinic #7 – What is mezzo fundraising? In this next instalment of the AOG direct mail clinic series, John Lepp wants to talk to you about your middle or mid value donors. These donors are so important to your organisation, and fundraisers shouldn’t fall into the trap of sending them a standard appeal.
- Direct mail clinic #8 – It’s called a ‘reply’ form for a reason In this session, John looks at the anatomy of a great, well performing, reply form and the things that need to be on it to make it work.
- Direct mail clinics – Introduction and contents Welcome to the Agents of Good (AOG) free direct mail clinics. These 11 useful video lessons (and extra special episodes) offer you tried and tested tips that will make your direct mail appeals more engaging and effective. Please explore all the clinics and share them widely with your fundraising friends.
- 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.
- 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.
- Freedom from Torture: Legacy direct mail appeal Legacies are a source of essential income for charities. So, it’s wonderful to see a charity putting a huge amount of thought and effort into their legacy appeals. Freedom from Torture have been including the legacy conversation in more of their donor communications and this sincere, uncomplicated appeal secured great results.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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…
- 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.
- 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.
- Royal Ballet and Opera: Annual ‘Pointe Shoe Appeal’ This new addition to our arts and education showcase is a great example of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. The Royal Ballet and Opera have been sending a variation of this successful appeal for over 20 years – allowing many donors to give the gift of pointe shoes.
- 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.
- Special direct mail clinic – The one with Danielle Wallace (on typography!) Join John Lepp and his guest Danielle Wallace to look at the weird and wonderful world of typography. In this special direct mail clinic, Danielle starts by calling typography the ‘unsung hero of direct mail’, before giving you some tips that will help ensure your donor actually reads what you’re sending them.
- Special direct mail clinic – The one with Mike Duerksen (on undesignated gifts!) The next guest to visit John Lepp for a special direct mail clinic is Canadian fundraiser Mike Duerksen. In this episode, Mike hones in on a very important topic for fundraisers... how to secure undesignated or unrestricted funds. Watch this 15-minute masterclass and you’ll learn how small tweaks to language can make a big difference to your ‘ask’.
- Special direct mail clinic – The one with Rachel Zant (on feelings!) In the next special direct mail clinic, John Lepp and Rachel Zant talk to you about the importance of infusing emotion in your appeals. Yes, this clinic explores all the feelings - from happy to sad and everything in between. If you want to ensure your appeals are emotive and effective in 2026, this is a great place to start.
- Special direct mail clinic – The one with Ken Burnett (on relationship fundraising!) In this first special direct mail clinic, John Lepp welcomes Ken Burnett for a chat. Ken talks to you about his newly revised and third edition of Relationship Fundraising – and explains why the book is increasingly relevant to fundraisers today. This clinic really could help shape the future of your fundraising, enjoy!
- 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.
- Sumatran Orangutan Society: ‘The Long Call’ supporter update This case study gives fundraisers like you a masterclass in merging a great supporter experience with a fantastic appeal sent via the post. It features a supporter update that not only brings conservation to life for the donor but inspires them to keep on giving too.
- The Brain Tumour Charity: ‘Waiting is the hardest part’ appeal Discover what happened when a fundraisers and creatives developed a brand new fundraising proposition and rolled out a whole host of donor communications. They created an emotive and effective appeal that surpassed all of those that had been run previously.
- 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.
- 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.
- YMCA England & Wales: Mid-value cash direct mail appeal In this appeal, Consider Creative turned the traditional charity appeal on its head. Instead of a standard donation ask, they treated the campaign like an investment opportunity. Tapping into modern crowdfunding language, the appeal invited donors to ‘kickstart’ 10,000 homes by using neglected, unused buildings.
