local non-profit fundraising mail campaign ohio printing services

Case study

Local Non-Profit Fundraising: Mail Campaigns & More

Donations are the lifeblood of most non-profit organizations. But where do you start? Your cause is strong, and you have developed a strong narrative about it. How do you get that in front of people? That’s the situation with The American Veterans Heritage Center (AVHC).

CHALLENGE

AVHC’s mission is to help preserve the grounds and buildings at the Historic Dayton VA Medical Center while educating people about its history. (It’s a fascinating story.) We know there are a lot of people in Dayton who have a strong interest in this area, but it’s most definitely a hidden gem.

They’ve built a great website that told their story and made it easy to give, but they needed to drive more traffic to it. Plus, they had a decent list of past donors, but needed to re-engage and grow that list. We knew we could help AVHC increase awareness via a direct mail campaign.

SOLUTION

We helped AVHC develop not only an immediate mail campaign to run with, but a plan for a program that would run a few times a year with timely events and updates.

By strategically targeting area codes housing people in the military (or family of), we expanded their mailing list from 400 to 1000. Further, we targeted down to the people who had given to veterans’ causes in the past, successfully creating a high-potential and high-yield recipient list.

For the actual mailer, we designed and printed two letters (one to past donors and one that serves as an introduction), and wrote the emotional story we knew would captivate them.

RESULTS

AVHC was looking for not only donations, but engagement: People that would donate, people that would look into the Facebook page, and people that would peruse the website after seeing the letter. The well-rounded mailer we created and sent for them was a success for new donor acquisition, re-engagement of past donors, as well as funneling traffic to their online presence.

With the first campaign live, they’ve started to build a more consistent cash flow of donations, especially by connecting donors to the real stories and people doing the renovations and education.

And moving forward, as AVHC engages more people, restores more grounds, and brings history back to life, they’ll need to keep communicating their accomplishments, and we’re proud to be their long-term partner in doing just that.

“Excellent! Exciting campaign; well done pulling everything together. The envelope looks great and especially the appeal letter, and so well-written. That letter is awesome with the graphics and even the QR code! Well done Judd, Cindy and Peter!”

– William (Bill) DeFries, CEO, USMC Veteran, & AVHC Board Trustee

PROJECT GALLERY

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