Year End Appeal 2019
Year End Appeal 2019
Embedded Files
Expanding on the 2018 success of partnering with Tom Hanks on 2018's Year End donation matching campaign, the 2019 Year End Appeal included his and Rita Wilson's endorsement as well as a reference to a lot of other celebrities that support the organization. The larger theme was "How far that little candle throws his beams. So shines a good deed in a weary world" (from Merchant of Venice) . In writing all the collateral I expanded the metaphor with references to igniting change, shining a light, sparking change, and stars/celebrities shining brightly with us.
Expanding on the 2018 success of partnering with Tom Hanks on 2018's Year End donation matching campaign, the 2019 Year End Appeal included his and Rita Wilson's endorsement as well as a reference to a lot of other celebrities that support the organization. The larger theme was "How far that little candle throws his beams. So shines a good deed in a weary world" (from Merchant of Venice) . In writing all the collateral I expanded the metaphor with references to igniting change, shining a light, sparking change, and stars/celebrities shining brightly with us.
Some specific wins: in 2019 I was dogged in uncovering our long dormant non-profit postage endorsement. The mail house and a number of people at the post office helped find us in the US post office database and we saved a sizable sum on postage without having to fill out any new paperwork. I sunk the saved costs into more digital advertising. Additionally, over the course of 2019 having refined and made major steps to clean-up our database as well as test constituent viability in multiple campaigns, events, and shows over the past year, the appeal mailing segmentation was decreased to a more manageable 5 groups instead of 25 separate categories. Email was divided into 2 groups: past donors >$50, past donors <$50 and constituents who had never given. The elements of the campaign were similar to 2018: a 5-piece direct mailing sent to a segmented database, 25 emails (including personalized Ask Strings, holiday greetings and Giving Tuesday promotion), social media posts and 3 major tent pole paid social campaigns (targeting audiences including our segmented donors, Followers, and Lookalikes), scripted gratitude calls and a special thank you letter and magnet gift. In 2019 I decided to nix 2018's high end holiday greeting card due to expense and relative lack of response.
Some specific wins: in 2019 I was dogged in uncovering our long dormant non-profit postage endorsement. The mail house and a number of people at the post office helped find us in the US post office database and we saved a sizable sum on postage without having to fill out any new paperwork. I sunk the saved costs into more digital advertising. Additionally, over the course of 2019 having refined and made major steps to clean-up our database as well as test constituent viability in multiple campaigns, events, and shows over the past year, the appeal mailing segmentation was decreased to a more manageable 5 groups instead of 25 separate categories. Email was divided into 2 groups: past donors >$50, past donors <$50 and constituents who had never given. The elements of the campaign were similar to 2018: a 5-piece direct mailing sent to a segmented database, 25 emails (including personalized Ask Strings, holiday greetings and Giving Tuesday promotion), social media posts and 3 major tent pole paid social campaigns (targeting audiences including our segmented donors, Followers, and Lookalikes), scripted gratitude calls and a special thank you letter and magnet gift. In 2019 I decided to nix 2018's high end holiday greeting card due to expense and relative lack of response.
This header was included in email and social posts.
This header was included in emails and social posts. Build, Ignite, Grow and Transform are words that appear in the official SCLA Mission Statement. The designer set the text to make it look like it was on the edge, metaphorically echoing the organization's edgy character.
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks folded lift piece endorsement letter in Direct Mailer
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks folded lift piece endorsement letter in Direct Mailer
This letter was originally drafted for our Gala invitation and I got approval to modify it for the general audience Year End Appeal.
This letter was originally drafted for our Gala invitation and I got approval to modify it for the general audience Year End Appeal.
I write the Creative Briefs and all the text content for the mailings and work with the other team members on edits. Al Pacino was in our major fundraiser "Simply Shakespeare" in 2019. He reprised his Broadway role in "The Merchant of Venice" along with Lili Rabe and Hamish Linklater for one night only.
I write the Creative Briefs and all the text content for the mailings and work with the other team members on edits. Al Pacino was in our major fundraiser "Simply Shakespeare" in 2019. He reprised his Broadway role in "The Merchant of Venice" along with Lili Rabe and Hamish Linklater for one night only.
Back side of the letter including an image of Kenneth Branagh at the premiere of his film "All Is True" hosted by SCLA in 2019.
Back side of the letter including an image of Kenneth Branagh at the premiere of his film "All Is True" hosted by SCLA in 2019.
This side of the lift piece was updated in 2019 to include more fun graphics and celebrity imagery (Tessa Thompson, Helen Hunt, Christina Applegate, William Shatner) to echo the overall theme of unity of support with respected celebrities.
This side of the lift piece was updated in 2019 to include more fun graphics and celebrity imagery (Tessa Thompson, Helen Hunt, Christina Applegate, William Shatner) to echo the overall theme of unity of support with respected celebrities.
This side of the lift piece I originally drafted in 2018. In 2019 I updated the images and shortened some of the quotes so that the piece was less text heavy.
This side of the lift piece I originally drafted in 2018. In 2019 I updated the images and shortened some of the quotes so that the piece was less text heavy.
Based on research by direct mail specialists I spec'd a large #A10 size envelope for the mailing in order to stand out more in a patron's mail pile and increase open rate. Also in 2019 I was dogged in uncovering our long dormant non-profit postage endorsement. The mail house and a number of people at the post office helped find us in the US post office database and we saved a sizable sum on postage. I sunk the saved costs into more digital advertising.
Based on research by direct mail specialists I spec'd a large #A10 size envelope for the mailing in order to stand out more in a patron's mail pile and increase open rate. Also in 2019 I was dogged in uncovering our long dormant non-profit postage endorsement. The mail house and a number of people at the post office helped find us in the US post office database and we saved a sizable sum on postage. I sunk the saved costs into more digital advertising.
With certain modifications, this email text was moreorless repeated in December 6+ times. Modifications included: lower totals for donors who give smaller gifts, different button text, different images, different subject lines, different intros, change to black theme on New Years Eve.
This #9 envelope is standard and we saved money on redesign by using it year after year.
This #9 envelope is standard and we saved money on redesign by using it year after year.
This was the design of Year End Appeal 2018's magnet Thank You gift which was printed on business card size inexpensive magnets that were flexible enough to go in the mail.
This is the Year End Appeal magnet Thank You gift design for 2019.
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