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.
How 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 moreGreenpeace Australia Pacific: the welcome process
by SOFII
Think objectively about the experience a new donor has within the first few months of joining your organisation. Greenpeace Australia Pacific has developed a new and simplified process to ensure that new donors receive clear communications that both thank and further engage them. The result is that they’re reducing the number of donors who leave within the first three months.
Read moreBritish Heart Foundation: the ‘calculate the cost of heart disease’ mailing
by SOFII
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?
Read moreWoman’s Royal Voluntary Service: face-to-face postcard
by SOFII
This is a wonderful example of outstanding stewardship. It shows that developing a strong relationship with the donor at the earliest possible stage can significantly affect loyalty and reduce attrition in a notoriously difficult and challenging type of donor recruitment.
Read moreThe Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade: minute regarding the need for fundraising from 1788
by SOFII
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.
Read moreThe early Christian Church: St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians
by SOFII
This may not be the world’s earliest ever recorded mention of fundraising but it could well be the first ever example of a fundraising director exhorting his troops to achieve their targets. Or, do you know different?
Read moreAlbert Street Methodist Sunday School: the foot of pennies from the 1930s
by SOFII
A small yet colourful part of England’s fundraising heritage had been discovered in a Methodist chapel about to be demolished. As their finder explains, these fun feet of pennies are engagement devices designed to make collecting for charity easy and so to hook neophytes into the habit of giving.
Read moreISRT thank-you and welcome letter
by SOFII
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.
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