I recently worked with the in-house team at Manchester Foundation Trust Charity to address the decline in response rates from their fundraising Direct Mail (DM) packs.
This charity raises funds for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest NHS Trusts in the country. It is made up of 10 hospitals which provide a full range of hospital services to 850,000 people across Manchester, Trafford and beyond.
I started by reviewing their packs from the previous two years. I looked at pack performance, audience data and my design observations. Then I produced a report which summarised what we could learn from each pack and provided lots of recommendations going forwards.
Next we interrogated their data and agreed to send a full DM pack to warm donors and a new postcard to potential donors. I worked with their printers to find formats which matched both their budget and our creative aspirations.
In the design phase I took on a young apprentice when my daughter helped with the illustrations! We took inspiration from the Rocket Scanner that we were raising funds for and the children that will benefit hugely from this piece of sophisticated play equipment. I also fed back and helped the team to write engaging and active copy to drive a response.
Esther Purves, Individual Giving Officer said, “Working with Jo was a breath of fresh air. She is clearly an expert in her field – providing both strategic and creative insight into our DM packs. We were so impressed with Jo’s creative ideation, and working with her helped to spark so many ideas. We would recommend her to any charity needing a fresh take on their DM programme.”
The campaign isn’t finished yet but a few weeks in and initial response rates show the average gift is up by about 26% on the previous average and the response rate is higher already that 75% of packs over the last 2 years!
If I can help review or design your next DM pack please let me know.