This same donor was recently in the office and asked casually if Ruby would ever write him back. Needless to say, we were enchanted with Jack and Ruby’s correspondence, so this week, Ruby writes back!

Successful projects rock. And while it does feel a bit like beeping our own horn, when we celebrate our success here at Agents of Good, it is all the more awesome because in our work, it also means that the world is a little bit of a better place.

And in the case of this project, more fresh food will be rescued from being thrown in the garbage and delivered to hungry people in Toronto. Second Harvest is an amazing and inspiring charity that we have the pleasure of working with. Our Spring Campaign was focused on buying a new truck for their fleet, and it has been a smashing success.

We raised twice as much money as the Spring Appeal last year. Average gift is up 40%. Beep! Beep!

Here’s just some of what we love about this campaign:

1. Surprise and Delight. The letter comes from the truck, and he starts his letter saying “I have a dream…” You KNOW you want to keep reading!



2. The illustrated truck is just so darn cute. You KNOW you’re going to open that envelope!
3. Engaging and involving the donor – the donor uses the keys (sticker) and moves it on to the coupon.



4. The matching gift. Donors “only” have to pay for half. A matching gift (secured with passion and energy by Second Harvest) secures the other half.
5. The last option on the gift array is for $65,000 and a note “I’ll buy the other half of the truck”. Yes, we were secretly hoping someone would send in a cheque or $65,000. But even though they didn’t, we wanted it to make every donor think about giving a little more. It worked.
6. It’s genuine. The match did come in at the 11^th hour, and we used the P.S. and the buckslip.
7. It flowed. We did a reminder pack, with a message of encouragement from the matching donor.
8. It rocked. And we stopped. We had planned to do a follow-up blast. But by the time it was due to deploy, we knew it exceeded the goal. So we did a thank-you email and letter instead. From the truck, of course.

Beep Beep!

Tom’s e-news landed in my inbox this week and once I read this I knew either I had to steal it or ask for his permission to post it (don’t worry – he said I could!) So I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did. – john

“Dear donors: We’re happy to say, we have switched to a digital annual report.”

Happy? R U really so sure?

In February 2011, The Chronicle of Philanthropy published a story that tracked the nascent rise of the digital annual report.

The Salvation Army (USA) had found that “about half” its printed annual reports went wasted: found no audience; were literally never opened. So “it decided to scrap the hard-copy version, moving to an all-digital one….”

You can almost hear the conclusion at headquarters: “Print isn’t working. Let’s go with digital instead.” And a digital version certainly has advantages.

-It’s conveniently available at the click of a mouse, 24 hours a day.
- It can offer lively entertainment. In this one, videos, professionally shot and edited, take the viewer on a journey into the actual neighborhoods where the Salvation Army does its difficult work.
- And even the messages from the director and board chair (customarily, the “Death Valley equivalent” in printed annual reports) are compelling when spoken on-screen, under dramatic lighting, with a musical soundtrack and Hollywood production values. Imagine your executive director acting in The Da Vinci Code; that’s what it looks and sounds like.

I wonder, though. Is this merely a “half empty/half full” conundrum?

If half the annual reports were never opened, then half WERE opened, after all.

And, unlike online video, you never know where a physical copy of your annual report might end up.

Let me tell you a real-life story. A couple of years ago, an attorney phoned this community foundation I know. He had very good news: the foundation would soon receive a multi-million-dollar gift from a man who had died without heirs.

Of course, the foundation was delighted. But puzzled, too: they’d never heard of their benefactor.

“How did he even know us?” the gift officer asked. The attorney replied, “Well, I happened to have your annual report on the coffee table in my reception area. He came in for an appointment and got to reading.”

So I have two questions for The Salvation Army (USA). One: Was it really print that failed? Two: Is it really an either/or situation?

One of the first seriously wrong conclusions about donor communications I ever heard was this: “We tried direct mail,” said the executive director of a small nonprofit. “And it didn’t work for us.” I accepted her assessment. Back then, I didn’t know any better. But as I armored up with training over the years, I learned to be more analytical:
- Was her direct mail piece any good to begin with? No, probably not.
- Was her mailing list well selected to begin with? No, probably not.
- Were the results, therefore, lousy? Yes, predictably so. Direct mail fundraising is a gladiatorial arena where only the well-trained survive.

Lesson learned: If you know nothing about direct mail, do not expect to succeed in that particular hard-to-get-right, easy-to-get-wrong medium.

Lesson extended: If your annual report isn’t getting read, don’t necessarily blame the reader or the medium. Look in the mirror first: Are you doing this well?

Even smart organizations (and the Salvation Army USA is a very smart organization when it hires donor communications vendors for things like direct mail) get clumsy when it comes time to do a printed annual report.

Takeaway >>>>
Boring and risk-free simply do NOT work in marketing. Ever. There are neuroscience reasons why that is, but I won’t get into those today.

Just keep this in mind: fundraising is a type of marketing. Fundraising must obey the very same psychological principles of persuasion that marketing must obey. Brains are brains. Being a donor may grant you an honorary halo, but it does not change your neural network.

What boring is is safe. Choosing to be safe is the professional equivalent of throwing in the towel. Safe donor communications will NOT raise as much money. But then no one above you is likely to know that’s the case. So if you do choose to be safe, this is one of those spanking great times when the ignorance of your boss and board (re: how donor communications really work) will help you. They also like — oh, come on: they love — safe, too.

Even though it doesn’t work. Guaranteed.

Thanks Tom – I would strongly urge that you RUN – don’t walk to Tom’s site right now and sign up for his informative, insightful and always entertaining e-newsletters right now. Like, right now. Why are you still reading this?

Let us know if any of this information and thinking is useful and applicable… or please feel free to add your own small shop challenges and we can help you in a future post! Cheers. John

Recent estimates put the number of non-profits and charities in Canada at over 160,000. That’s a lot of organizations, and a very large and important part of Canada’s economy. But did you know that more than half are run entirely by volunteers? In other words, they don’t have a single paid staff person.

Collectively, we’ve worked with a wide range of non-profits, with databases ranging from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand active donors. What we’ve learned over the years is that ‘small shops’ can learn a lot from ‘big shops’… and vice versa.

Let’s start with some definitions. How do you know if you’re a small or big shop? We couldn’t find an official definition, so have come up with our own. A small shop has:

• Annual gross revenue of less than $500,000 (according to Imagine Canada, that applies to 87% of non-profits and charities);

• Two or fewer full-time fundraisers;

• Staff who are experts at multi-tasking (small shop fundraisers often leap from major donor calls to special events menu planning to counting pennies from coin boxes within the same hour).; and

• A donor file size of 2,500 or less.

With a file size of 2,500 or less, it becomes very difficult to conduct statistically valid testing within your direct mail program. But that doesn’t mean that small shops can’t learn from testing: they just have to look at what big shops have done and adopt some of the lessons learned.

So, for all the small shops out there, here’s what we’ve learned through the dozens of tests we’ve done within big shop direct mail programs:

• Four-page letters often get better response than two-page letters;

• Incorporate a sense of urgency and/or a timeframe (for example, adding ‘please reply by April 5th’ to your response device, or on your O/E, will likely increase your response rates);

• Stick to one simple straightforward offer (for example, including a an invitation to a special event within an appeal for an annual gift will likely confuse donors and reduce response);

• Larger envelopes almost always pull a higher response rate than smaller envelopes;

• Have a matching gift opportunity? Let your donors know about it and challenge them to participate;

• Use an ascending gift array (i.e., $35, $45, $60) rather than a descending one (i.e., $60, $45, $35);

• If possible, match your gift array to the donor’s last gift (if their last gift was $35, start the gift array slightly higher – 1.25x their last gift is a good rule of thumb);

• Larger response coupons often lead to higher response;

• Here’s a big one: handwriting rules! Have the signatory hand-sign the letters (this is something that’s virtually impossible for big shops to do, but is very possible for you to do), add a hand-written and personalized P.S., and hand-address your envelope. (you can get the help of volunteers for some of this). You can even get your President or Executive Director’s handwriting made into a font;

• Use a live stamp on your mailings (yes, it’s more expensive than third class postage, but we suspect you’d make that up in higher response rates and average gifts);

• You will get your highest response from donors who have most recently given to you (i.e., for a mailing you send in 2011, your highest response will be from donors who have given in 2011, next highest will be 2010, then 2009). If you’re instinct is to give you recent donors a break from giving, don’t do it!; and

• Stick to black text on a white background and use a minimum of 13pt font.

So, why not incorporate a few of these big shop learnings into your own small shop program? Try them out for a while and see how your response rates and average gifts compare to prior years.

Stay tuned for an upcoming article on what big shops can learn from small shops (this is a two-way street).

Leah Eustace, John Lepp, Jen Love

It is so easy to get turned inside out and upside down thinking about integrated campaigning, multi-channel fundraising, over-thinking our approach and completely rush past one stunningly obvious thing: asking for one thing.

One of our clients established a monthly giving program a number of years ago, and they have the standard monthly offer on the back of the response form. They were recruiting a handful (or less) of new monthly donors every campaign.

We encouraged them to test a monthly conversion package – to very small, select group of donors and done entirely in-house. Now, this was no turn-key operation. To keep cost and logistics manageable we kept the list very intimate, but tested from a variety of groups. We strategized about segments likely to perform best and went through line-by-line to identify what we would ask them for.

We reached out to existing monthly donors to ask them to provide testimonials we could use as part of the package. Not surprisingly, most of them passed at the opportunity, but it gave the charity a chance to connect with donors, invite them to be involved and thank them for their tremendous support.

The final package was:

-         an oversized outer envelope, closed-faced, with a bright, colourful, real stamp

-         a personal and genuine letter from the Executive Director

-         a full-page insert with the voices (and faces) of other monthly supporters

-         a full-page response device

-         a stamped reply envelope (not a BRE, a real envelope)

The response device. Had ONE option. Give monthly. No single gift option. No shopping list of tick boxes: volunteering, events, legacies, interests. No request for email. Tons of white space and a very clear offer.

To date, they have recruited around or over 40 new monthly donors, with a value of over $650 per month (still coming in). A massive improvement over recruiting a handful in a passive way with each appeal.

Connect with me (jen@agentsofgood.org) directly if you want to hear more about the results by segment, or about some of the adjustments we are making for the second version we are sending in the new year.

I challenge you to have a look at your latest response coupon. How many things are you asking your donors for?

It stands for unique selling proposition.

Almost every discussion we have with clients comes back to this. What is your USP?

Yes – I’m asking you…

Why do you exist? Why, as a donor, should I support you? What are the THREE things that you do, that no one else does or can touch you on? Truthfully.

Please don’t start reading me your mission statement.

For Agents of Good it is:
1) we collaborate with our clients, include them in the creative and strategic development of everything we do
2) every thought we have starts with the care and concern about your donors and making sure they have a good reason to care and support your cause
3) we are small, nimble, organic and work with any expert we can to give you the best solution we possibly can

We can not be touched or competed with – on these three points. I believe that.

USP.

One last example – I am working with a local farm called Black Walnut Lane Farm who sell quality meat – and I do mean quality. They are trying to find more customers to help with their profit levels and last night, we sat around their table in their farm house, discussing USP.

They sell in markets with other butchers who also, like them sell meat. But how are they different than those other butchers?

1) they raise their dexter beef and lambs from birth to slaughter. That meat they are selling – they know everything about it and have provided for it for its entire life.
2) they are experts on naturally raised livestock
3) they are folksy, caring people with a overwhelming passion for providing their customers with exception product

USP.

What’s yours? If you know what yours is, you don’t need to tell me – the donor (or customer) – it will come through in everything you do – but make sure you use it in every piece of marketing, branding, communication and strategy that you come up with.

What are three things that NO OTHER competitor can touch you on? It would be interesting to see if your own staff would write down the same three things you do.

If I’m asked to design a direct mail piece, I often know the rough total cost and how long it will take me because I’ve been doing it for a long time. But I also know the design is reactionary. We develop the creative brief and offer, Jen and I discuss the tone of the copy and i go over her first draft, then I design the pack based on audience, tone, ask, etc.

Also, a lot of the time, there is no budget or time to sit around pontificating about things. Read, react, design. That doesn’t mean I don’t think about things – I do. Is the type big enough and clear enough, does it suit the subject matter or audience, does it say something clearly, do we need a visual, one colour or four, is the logo big enough, will there be room for all of that copy, what are we saying, what do we want the donor to do, does this have impact, will the donor open the envelope, etc.

You may be only paying $1000 for the design of direct mail pack, but you are getting well almost 15 years of doing, testing, looking, asking… experience.

Logos on the other hand – are totally different.

It’s the challenge of creating something that is memorable, communicates an idea or USP, visually defines and sums up what a charity does or who they do it for, gets across the theme of an event… you get the idea.

It’s the challenge of finding the right sort of font that is appropriate to the charity and it’s donors, or the right type of visual that distills everything your charity stands for.

It’s not easy and it’s a lot of work. It takes time, talent, patience and concentration.

Can you get a logo for $25? Of course you can. Just take a look right here.

But I can’t do it for you. Most other professional designers can’t either.

My first step is brainstorming all of the sorts of words or visuals that might be associated with your charity or event. I can easily spend a few hours – as all of these words help define the sorts of visuals that might work. I look at the name of your organization. What does it say, what do we want it to mean. Who is your audience? Who are your donors? What do we want the name to say to them.

I scribble any shapes or visuals that come to mind as I continue to write all the things i can think of that have to do with your charity and cause.

I also start to make a list of all of the visual clichés that are associated with your cause – you all have them. (By the way, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using a visual cliché – so long – as a old creative director once told me – you use it differently).

I start to think about type and fonts.

I typeset the name of your organization over and over, in typefaces that may be suitable. Some fonts have a lot of personality – or the good ones do. All the while remembering, what does it say? What do we want it to mean? I would love each of my clients to have custom fonts that they could use for their logo and marketing – but at the very least, when using an off-the-shelf font, I find ways to make it unique by tweaking some of the characters.

Next comes the visual brainstorm. I go back to my list of words and start to use them to discover ways I can visually express them. Again I may make another list of words or just quick thumbnail drawings of ideas. This is the real time of discovery. And often there is no end. I just keep pumping out idea after idea, all very quick, not stopping to censor myself or my ideas. If I see something I like, I may try to approach it from different angles – “How can I express time? What are the visual clichés to express time? How many different ways can I show or communicate a clock?” Over and over. There is no perfect idea here.

Once I’ve completed this process, it’s time to start putting some of these elements together. Most designers use a program called Adobe Illustrator to design logos. Illustrator is a vector based program (as opposed to a raster based program like Adobe Photoshop) which allows us to control the number of colours and most importantly, makes what we design scalable. As I start to marry visuals and typefaces, the logo starts to come together – but it is also another period of discovery as you try to make the type fit into and with the visual. Maybe the type is the visual. Maybe the visual is the name of the charity. Maybe you need both. Again, I just want to keep circulating the ideas. This is not the time for tweaking and art directing – making sure everything is perfect. And as I work, I find new ideas forming and as I put one concept together, I move onto another. This process can be endless. There is no ONE solution. And it usually ends when your time is up and actually have to present some concepts to the client.

I select 2-4 ideas that I feel work the best and present them to you, the client, as “black only” files.

Why? Because I want you to focus on the concept I am presenting. I don’t want to talk about how you don’t like blue I’ve chosen.

If I’ve done my job right, after I present them to you, you will say – “this is going to be a difficult choice”. And it so it may seem once you first see them, but once we talk them through a bit more, and get a chance to sleep on it – there tends to be a clear winner. One that really stands out to you.

My absolute worse case scenerio are the words “let me show this to my board.” Then I know I am in deep trouble.

At the risk of going into a side rant about boards of directors, there is a reason why some of my colleagues offer discounts to their discounts to NOT involve your board. Simply, if you have a board of 3 people or more, that is 3 or more totally different needs, perspectives, bias’s, ideas, etc that are now going to weight in on these poor little logos – and they will not stand a chance. “Can we…?, Can you…? What if ‘we’…? Why don’t you…?” etc, etc. Bye bye all those hours of time, effort and money – welcome to Compromiseville, second stop, Dullsville… Ok, ok… maybe I’m being a little tough. Bottom line is – you know what they say about opinions – everyone has one and every one will be different.

So, hopefully we’ve declared a clear winner in our concepts! Hoorary!

The next challenge comes with some final art direction and looking at colour combinations.

Usually when developing concepts, I am just trying to get an idea to work. I’m not worrying about the spaces between the type (the kerning), how the ascenders look, is the leading too tight. I just want the idea to come through.

But now – now – is the chance and time to art direct the logo to visual perfection.

Type is a funny thing. In the old days they used to use wood or metal type (some places still do!) and they could control the amount of space between the letters (kerning) or between the lines (leading). The type or fonts we use on our computer are set at a typeface default and a professional will take the type to correct these defaults to make sure each letter dances well with the letters next to it. This kind of teaking can make a massive difference in how the logo looks.

Once the type is cleaned up and looks just the way I want it, I might look at cleaning up any visual I might have used. I try to keep visuals very simple in their shapes and level of detail. Anything can look good when it blown up to fit on your monitor but how does it look when it is printed 0.25″ x 0.25″ in a local newspaper that is using a LPI (lines per inch) of 75? You need to remember that as you work through the logo. That skinny serif or gorgeously detailed illustration is NOT going to cut it and the print guys will want some blood – especially if you try to use it reversed out of a solid tone.

So the type is great, the visual is all cleaned up – it all works. Do a double check and print it off very tiny and very large. Put it up on the wall and look at it from 15 feet away. Turn it upside down and backwards – are there any spaces that don’t look right? Some part of the the type which just stands up like a piece of hair that won’t lay flat? Does it look like a black blob? Make sure it works. And if it does, then we can start to think about and work with – hoorary! – colour.

As I mentioned, I present the final logo as a black only version. If this logo looks amazing in black – then adding colour will be like adding a piece of parsley to a plate. It’s a garnish. Important but not necessary.

I present a black version, a one colour version, a two colour version and a four colour version (a cmyk variation using the spot colours for reference). I also design some reversed out logos using the same spot colours.

I have mentioned this before. For your one colour and two colour versions, please make sure that the designer, or you- if you are the designer, have used a dominant spot colour. Because if I have to work with your gorgeously designed logo and you used PMS 1215 and 7486 – someone is going to pay. Use at least one dominant colour. Always and forever.

I present final logo ideas to the client and upon the approving nod of the head, send all versions that the client will ever need in a electronic file. As a client, you should be asking for your logo saved in a few formats and for both platforms. An Illustrator eps file with all type concerted to outlines – a black version, one colour and two colour variations (and cmyk), as well as any reversed out options. You should be getting all of those versions saved a rgb jpgs and tifs as well. You should know the name of the font that was used and should get a final pdf of the final variations. I include my name, font and pms information on my illustrator files so the next designer will not have to guess if the client does not know.

If you, the client has asked for it, I may even design you a styleguide that shows you all of the ways a designer can use your logo (and also the ways they cannot), but may design up some templates for you to use as reference for business cards, letterhead, envelopes, powerpoint presentations, advertisements, websites and so on.

I am hoping that if I’ve been hired to do this very important job with you, that we can discuss managing and designing the other sorts of brand support materials you will want and need.

I hope this explains why a logo (designed by any professional) will not cost you $25 or less.

Our processes may differ, but most designers are following a similar route to give you a clean, professional, creative and thoughtful logo to represent your organization.

I know what you are thinking – ‘so what does a professional logo cost’?

And my first question back to you is – what is your budget?

I won’t speak for all designers, but please don’t call us if your answer is “$50!”.

I’m just back from filming our first international video documentary on a non profit in Jamaica and every time I return from working on a new project – whether its helping a client with their project or getting involved first hand – I am reminded exactly why I became an Agent of Good.

I’ve seen my share of extreme poverty first-hand in places like Ethiopia, Uganda, El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica and rolled up my sleeves to get involved in building wells and clean water projects, building homes and schools, or spending time with AIDS patients, disabled and elderly from all walks of life.

And every project I have seen or worked on I have learned that it always comes down to the people. Anyone who is impacted by any aid project has an incredible story to tell. Real stories of despair and hardships and, sometimes, of hope and inspiration.

I want to share an all to common scenario…

A young Jamaican woman struggles to survive with a degenerative disease and no way to make money to care for herself. She is uneducated and has almost no options so she falls into prostitution. She doesn’t consider contraception or know her options (or can’t afford them). She now has kids to feed and when they are barely old enough she sends them to the streets to beg for money. As the child gets older he isn’t as cute and not as successful at begging. She continues to bear children, each begging for money or finding other ways to get by. Years pass and she now has 8 kids and some are showing signs of the same degenerative disease she was born with.

Even though schooling is free they can’t work if they attend class. They can’t afford the uniforms or school supplies. Her kids are essentially wild. No education. No structure. No rules. They have never worn shoes or eaten with utensils (the family doesn’t have a table anyways). She expects her kids will find ways to support her and they become her retirement plan.

Her kids have no positive role models. They see the drug dealers cruising the streets in their cool cars with hot girlfriends and fall into the lifestyle.

Its a viscous cycle.

But this is where I see hope. Incredible individuals and groups are building homes and wells for clean water, providing education and making a real difference in their lives. They have dedicated themselves to helping others and they are the real inspiration.

Stay tuned. In the coming weeks we will be building our short youtube documentary on one small non profit to help them tell their story and showcase the great work they are doing to make life better for those in Jamaica.

Agent Jen, Mark and John reporting for duty. Debrief and disclosure on a successful mission.

About You
Interval House’s 2009 Report is so donor-centred that it isn’t even an Annual Report: it’s a Gratitude Report. Our vision was donors feeling active and engaged right from the title on. Together, we walk through every room at Canada’s first centre for abused women and children, telling positive and powerful stories that show their gift in action. The real and passionate people behind the Co-Chairs and Executive Managers have different messages to convey: the Co-Chairs can be effusive and nurturing; the Executive Managers have a confident tone and demonstrate leadership. And what about those all-important pie charts? We transitioned them from being complicated-finance-organization-robo-speak to something donors can feel pride in.

USP: Unique Selling Position
Are you tired of the ‘sameness’ of Annual Reports too? You pick it up and it could be for a hospital, health charity, environmental group or [insert charity here]. This is not an off-the-shelf solution. It couldn’t be a Report for any other charity – this is about Interval House and their donors. Only the insistent and amazing people at Interval House can take credit for their USP: providing crisis shelter and holistic programs that heal families escaping domestic violence. Our job was to show that USP, and how donors make it happen, on every single page.

Creative Collaboration = Best Results
Our notes from our energetic brainstorming session: sacred space, stories in every room, personal, special, home. I put down my pen and knew we nailed it with this word: “dollhouse”. A dollhouse is evocative storytelling in action. Our next challenge was to develop a unique creative treatment. We collaborated with an illustrator and artist, the one-of-a-kind Jessica Gordon, who stylistically would bring the sort of warmth to the House that it deserved.

Illustrations by Jessica Gordon

For the online piece, we took a digital image of the “empty” house with none of the detail, and then each room “lights up” and all those wonderful, intimate details bring it to life and make it a home. Because we had an integrated, strategic approach from the start, we were ready for the technicality of the digital layering during the artist’s process. The key was constant collaboration. With Interval House staff, with each other and with the suppliers who helped bring this piece to life.

Our 3 Problems With “All Online Annual Reports”
We’ve all heard consultants, bloggers and tweeters talk about transitioning to an all-online Annual Report, and it goes something like this: “just email donors and tell them the PDF is online – saves lots of money and has the same effect”. But does it? We have 3 problems with this. First, if your printed Report (or e-newsletter) is boring, putting it online doesn’t make it interesting. Second, if you are taking the time to invest in your online community, why not move beyond the static and rigid confines of your PDF and make it dynamic and interactive? Third, are you sure you want to decide for your donors how they want to hear from you – especially if they’ve always heard from you in one way? Part of our commitment to a donor-centred approach was to ensure donors could select for themselves how they want to interact with what we created for them.

Segmentation & Multi-Channel Approach
Our thoughtful database analysis segmented donors into 3 streams: donors to receive the printed version, donors to receive a postcard driving them online, donors to receive an e-blast. For the printed version, we selected corporate donors, major donors, high level monthlies, donors who requested the annual report and donors who have commented on the printed report before. Postcard went to all monthly donors (in the past, only high-end monthlies got the annual report because it was too expensive to send to everyone). We did an e-blast for the rest of the file (yes, the whole file, so now ALL donors get to see the Gratitude Report). And we did a follow-up blast to those who received the postcard or printed report to drive them to the interactive online version. Oh, look at that. We still saved money (smaller print run), invested in their online community (on every charity’s ‘to do list’) and respected each donor’s preferences. Donor-centred fundraising, people!

Deciding To Not Fundraise
We’re fundraisers. So, yes, we agonized over whether we were going to ask for money or not. Throw this question out to fundraisers (we did) and you’ll get lots of people say “are you stupid? Of course include a coupon and BRE. The Annual Report can pay for itself.” But for us, that wasn’t the point. The point was to engage donors, build a relationship, and stick to our promise about the Gratitude Report: it’s about you, not about us. And no, we aren’t stupid, so we did build some soft calls to action into the online component, and will be using this creative for future fundraising.


We are thrilled with the positive feedback we have received from Interval House, their donors, and our peers. Another Agents of Good mission accomplished. Collaborative. Creative. Innovative. Inspiring. Donor-Centred.

If you wish to download a pdf of the report you can access it here.

“Working with Agents of Good was a seamless process for us. Coming up with the dollhouse idea was a fresh new approach for us, and really fit with the work we do. Agents of Good took the ideas we brainstormed together and the feedback we gave during the design process, and turned out a great final product that really reflects our donors needs and our vision of the organization. We’re especially pleased with the online component, which took a different direction than the traditional PDF posted on the website. The online piece is interactive and fun – exactly what we wanted.” Ashleigh Saith – Resource Development Coordinator, Interval House

If you don’t know what I’m talking about you are missing a classic in your direct marketing program. As traditional as grandmother’s pearls, yes. But you can make it modern and effective with a few simple twists.

So what’s a match package? Simple. You tell your donors that every dollar they give will be matched by someone else – usually a major or corporate donor. That’s it. Read a little later about how to find your matching gift donor. But first, let’s dust off this old gem and make it shine.

Three things I love about match packages:

1. Brilliantly simple. No complicated offer, no intricate reply form. You give and it will be matched. Your gift gets doubled. You give once and help twice. As you can see, brilliantly simple…and a copywriter’s dream. So many good ways to turn the phrase! And it’s also fun for the creative types. Check out what we did to make the matching gift offer be part of the copy and the letter layout for UNICEF Canada. Note the ink strike-outs in the middle of the page, and the gift array treatment on the coupon. We also got to explore the personality of the major donor who initiated the match by using a lift note.

2. Shockingly effective. Your average gift? Goes up. Your response rate? Goes up. Your total revenue? Goes up. Enough said.

3. Your donors get it. They immediately understand that this is a rockin’ offer, and that they should get on board. You make it even stronger by adding a deadline into the call to action. Here’s what we did for The Hearing Foundation of Canada: we had fun with the “double Santa arm” to make a visual representation of the match offer, and also included the deadline. We echoed the deadline on the reply envelope to give another push to return.

One…two…three…That’s the fundraising trifecta!!

As to making it modern – a dedicated URL so that donors can give online, access more information about the campaign, profile of the matching donor. You can also create an involvement device where donors add a “make it double” sticker to the reply card, for instance.

Yes, I promised a word on finding your matching gift donor. Two approaches. One, you have a major or corporate donor who is itching for a different way to be recognized. Enter: matching gift offer. They get some love, your donors get a fresh ask and you get more money. Another trifecta!

Second approach. The cheater approach. I believe in crafty cheating, so I love this version. You take an existing donor in a multi-year pledge and ask them if they’ll use their gift to inspire others. They feel good, You look good. You raise more money. Another trifecta!

See, what’s not to love? A trifecta of trifectas!