The direct mail, door drops and household deliveries showcase
Congratulations! You’ve just found the world’s best and biggest collection of fundraising direct mail, right here on sofii.org. There are more than 160 detailed case histories and articles here for you to learn from, crib from, adapt or copy. And lots more besides. Enjoy!
Click here for the full contents and index for SOFII’s direct mail showcase.
The summary report of the Commission on the Donor Experience into direct mail fundraising can be found here.
HEKS charity shop Switzerland: virtual but not traditional gifts

by SOFII
This first exhibit to come to SOFII from a Swiss fundraising organisation could hardly be better. This campaign was created to give donors an option to buy a virtual Christmas gift, the money raised from which benefits disadvantaged people overseas and in Switzerland.
Read moreGreat Ormond Street Hospital: Christmas mailing from 1941

by Aline Reed
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.
Read moreHow to really understand fundraising’s reigning big idea, direct mail

by Mal Warwick
The foreword to this short and readable book summarises its value well, ‘For reluctant writers who need warm-up exercises and structured lessons…and for seasoned grant writers who get caught up in the jargon of our fields’…
Review by Jan Chisholm.
Read moreOntario Nature: ‘Ruby the hummingbird’ mailing

by SOFII
This unusual example of direct mail tells a complex, moving story in an imaginative and very engaging way.
Read moreHarvard University: how Harvard got its name. Major gift fundraising in the seventeenth century.

by SOFII
The examples in this exhibit are almost 400 years old, yet it would seem that we are still making the same mistakes today when it comes to major gift fundraising.
Read moreHelp the Aged: ‘you have this gift’ direct mail pack

by SOFII
Both the text on the envelope and the incentive in this classic direct mail pack from the 1980s have been copied frequently.
Read moreHow I wrote it: Jules Brown talks about the Women’s Aid fundraising letter

by Fergal Byrne & Jules Brown
In Fergal Byrne’s seventh interview with leading fundraising copywriters, Jules Brown from New Zealand explains why he begins with a case study. ‘I immerse myself in the case study. For me, it forms the guts of what fundraising direct mail is all about.’ Click here to see the powerful case history he used in the featured letter that he wrote for Women’s Aid in Ireland.
Read moreHow I wrote it: Alan Sharpe’s War Child fundraising letter.

by Fergal Byrne & Alan Sharpe
In this, the sixth of a series of interviews with leading fundraising writers, Alan Sharpe talks with Fergal Byrne about a fundraising letter written for Canadian charity War Child in 2011. During this conversation, Alan reveals the thinking that went into his letter and what really matters in making a letter a success.
Read moreDr Barnardo’s Homes: how the death of Carrots led to a powerful slogan, from 1866

by SOFII
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.
Read moreHow I wrote it: the Starlight Children’s Foundation emergency appeal

by Fergal Byrne & Sean Triner
In this, the fourth of a series of interviews with leading fundraising writers, Sean Triner talks with Fergal Byrne about a fundraising appeal letter he wrote on spec for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Australia, in 2009. In this conversation Sean tells Fergal how he wrote the letter and what really matters in making sure this kind of letter is a success.
Read moreDeerfield Academy: Bruce Barton’s fundraising letters from 1960, letter 22

by SOFII
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.
Read moreDeerfield Academy: Bruce Barton’s fundraising letters from 1957 and 1958, letters 20 and 21

by SOFII
Bruce Barton’s letters are all about the donors’ achievements, so are welcome news packed with flattery and tales of selflessness and fine motives.
Read more