Direct mail is far from outdated. It is an important tool for building meaningful donor relationships and driving impactful results. But what makes a direct mail appeal truly stand out? In this blog, the creative experts discuss some of the art and strategy behind the Salvation Army's most successful direct mail campaigns.
Appeals include everything from acquisition (where we’re trying to get new donors) to cultivation (where we’re retaining, engaging, and stewarding donors). An image is worth a thousand words. The right photo can have as much impact as carefully written copy. We look for photos of people, and a photo that connects the donor to your core story — to the need, and to the solution.
You don’t want somebody who looks too happy, because you don’t want them to look as if there’s no problem. At the same time, you also don’t want anything that’s too downcast or depressing, because you want the donor to feel like they can make a difference. You see this on a lot of the faces that we choose. Somebody’s been helped or somebody will be getting the help, and there’s hope. That’s a word we use a lot, too: hope.
Fundraising is about need. We want to present photos to donors where it looks like there’s a problem that they can solve, and that they’re going to be part of the solution through their giving. That’s why we typically look for photos that portray some sense of need versus happy, outcome-based photos.
Sometimes we’re asked to show photos of buildings instead of people. We know that that’s not going to resonate with donors. We want a photo of one or just a few people, because that’s more relatable to a donor than a large group. One compelling face, whether it’s a child or a senior, is going to be much more motivating than a picture of a building.
When donors see the right photo, it compels them to read more and to do something. In this case, make a donation. The pensive look that we like to go for in our photography also has to do with the fact that we never want to veer into the territory of exploiting a photo for the sake of raising money. We never want to feel like we’re manipulating the donor to raise money, because that’s inauthentic. That’s not who The Salvation Army is. We want to motivate with hope rather than fear.
The Salvation Army is one of the most recognized and effective brands in the industry. Thanks to The Richards Group, we’ve been able to utilize this robust resource of strong photography and a powerful visual support system. A lot of their photos have a very dramatic appeal to them. They focus on the eyes. There’s not too much noise, which is what we call background texturing. Their photos really tell a story.
Offers are a very important part of the success of a direct mail campaign. Yes, it’s about helping the donor solve a problem, but also the value of what their gift will do.
When you’re asking somebody for money, you want to make it very clear to them exactly what their gift is going to do. Our three-pronged approach involves cost, impact, and urgency … and these all work together. Cost is the price tag — the money you’re asking donors to part with to solve a problem. The impact ties directly into the cost, because this is what their gift is going to do (or help do), whether it’s going to feed somebody, provide shelter, help somebody recover from drug addiction, or any one of a lot of different things that The Salvation Army does. The urgency is why this is so important, why we need you to give now. All of these work together to make a compelling case.
With respect to cost, there’s also a cost of not giving. That’s the implied subtext of the offer. When you think about the direct mail package holistically, you have that visually compelling photo, the copy that pulls you in, and an offer that shows specificity and value to the donor. When those work together, it really does make it easier to show the donor how she can do something good through her support.