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.
A profile of Mal Warwick: America’s genial guru of fundraising direct mail
by Christiana Stergiou
What we at SOFII have to say about this guy.
Read moreDeerfield Academy: Bruce Barton’s fundraising letters from the 1940s, letters 1 and 2
by SOFII
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.
Read moreDeerfield Academy: the Bruce Barton classic long copy letter from 1925 that pulled a 100 per cent response
by Carolina Herrera
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.
Read moreThe Wishing Well Appeal for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital
by SOFII
It's difficult to do justice to a capital campaign as wide, and complex. This is a condensed summary of a major capital campaign which, at the time, was the largest appeal ever mounted in the UK.
Read moreHow I wrote it: the ActionAid iguana letter
by Fergal Byrne & Aline Reed
Are you sitting down to write your next appeal? In this article, Aline Reed takes you through a letter she wrote in 2005. It was part of ActionAid UK’s long-running mid-value donor programme. Aline explains her approach to writing stories that move donors to action, and offers hints and tips that will help you to do the same.
Read moreBritish Red Cross: the £7.7 billion appeal that changed British fundraising forever
by SOFII
The Duke of Gloucester’s Red Cross and St John Appeal Fund is the largest charitable fund in the history of British fundraising, raising the equivalent of £7.7 billion. This monumental exhibit should be read by all.
Read moreReverse Book Club cold acquisition pack: Books change lives
by SOFII
Book Aid International’s latest donor acquisition mailing package, created by them with UK marketing and communications agency Catalyst.
Read moreHow I wrote it: the Sharp HospiceCare conversion letter
by Fergal Byrne & Tom Ahern
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.
Read moreBook Aid International: the Reverse Book Club
by SOFII
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.
Read moreFarm Africa: a thank-you letter and gift
by SOFII
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.
Read moreDr Barnardo’s Homes: four fundraising greats from the distant past
by SOFII
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.
Read moreThe early Christian Church: Paul the apostle motivates his church’s donors – c. 56 AD
by SOFII
This could be the first ever appeal for regular, committed donors. In the early days of the Christian church the missionary Paul asked his supporters in the city of Corinth to set aside a small portion of their income regularly, to sustain victims of a famine and then later to support good works generally.
Read more
