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.

CPAR: ‘plant a tree in Ethiopia’ mailing

by SOFII

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.

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WWF: Year of the Tiger Christmas appeal 2009

This is the appeal that was sent to all WWF core donors. This was the most successful appeal in the organisations history.

by SOFII

This is an excellent example of how one campaign with an urgent and compelling message can be tailored and shaped to fit different types of donor.

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Shelter’s Joan and Rudy pack: a pet dog helps homeless old people

by Chris Barraclough

The creators of this direct mail pack from Shelter read the cause and its audience brilliantly and went on to smash its targets.

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Ryton Gardens: recyclable mailing

Ryton Gardens DM appeal

by SOFII

Ryton Garden’s famous recyclable mailing is one of the best ever examples of the benefits fundraisers can realise when they show that they really understand their donors.

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RSPB: Letter to the future

by SOFII

How do you engage people in your cause, grab their attention and encourage them to stand alongside you on an issue of national importance? Not easy, we think. But here’s a brilliant example of a national conservation charity doing just that, very successfully.

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EveryChild Gift Aid ‘mop-up’ campaign

by Matthew Sherrington

For any UK charity, reclaiming tax on donations going back the last four years could be a huge windfall. EveryChild’s average Gift Aid claim was £165 per response.

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Oxfam Canada: the ‘threads of change’ campaign

Oxfam’s donors messages of hope.

by SOFII

The ’threads of change’ campaign from Oxfam Canada gave their donors the chance to do more than just send money to a cause they love. They were able to send messages of hope to Oxfam projects all over the world.

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Greenpeace’s optimistic tick-box suggestion: the ‘Stop Thorp’ campaign court case mailing

Greenpeace's high risk form paid off handsomely.

by Carolina Herrera

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.

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Breakthrough Breast Cancer: ‘touch look check’ campaign

The leaflet.

by SOFII

This campaign successfully united two aims: to increase knowledge of the warning signs of breast cancer and recruit a large number of regular givers.

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St Michael’s Hospital Foundation: data-based planned giving campaign delivers heavenly results

Some of the teams and work that St Michael’s generous donors help.

by SOFII

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? 

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Friends of the Earth: the Bee Cause

by SOFII

This extremely important campaign from Friends of the Earth perfectly integrates fundraising and genuine participation, through beautifully produced and interesting involvement devices, both online and offline.

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The Salvation Army: Christopher’s letter

by SOFII

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.

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