A Good Way to Get “Spotted”

Ever see a spotted outer envelope? I hadn’t until I came across this mailing by Jewish Children’s Fund in our Who’s Mailing What! Archive.

The 4-inch-by-9.5-inch, white carrier is speckled with beige spots and includes the teaser, “Ever see a spotted zebra?” above an illustration of a zebra with spots. The outer sets up the theme of this mailing: A zebra with a spotted coat is something you’ll never see, but a Jewish child without a coat is common. In fact, it’s something you easily can find in New York, where JCF is headquartered.

The 8.25-inch-by-10.75-inch letter is spotted, too, and lays out its purpose in a page and a half: JCF has received calls from families with children in need throughout the tri-state area it serves, and it cannot help them without the support of donors. Three examples of the messages of need that JCF has received from families are detailed in the letter: a family with three children in New Jersey whose youngest is autistic needs warm coats; a father with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma who has four young children doesn’t have the funds to buy the kids boots, gloves, hats, scarves and coats to keep them warm; and a young woman whose husband won’t pay child support needs help providing for her daughter.

The 3.5-inch-by-8.5-inch, one-sided reply slip also is — you guessed it — spotted. The ask at the top of the reply slip is more a declaration: “I wish Jewish children without coats were as rare as spotted zebras. I want to keep a Jewish child warm this winter. Here is my gift to the Jewish Children’s Fund.” Listed below this copy are check boxes next to gift amounts, and a sentence describing what the gift will do. JCF illustrates the real impact of donations by showing how each amount could help one of the needy families described in the letter. For example, next to the check box for a $250 gift it reads “to ensure that a family, like the four children whose father is battling cancer, has coats and boots.”

The spotted-zebra theme and the mailing’s copy are simple, yet effective in conveying JCF’s message and bringing it to the heart of potential donors.

THIS MAILING is available in digital form at the special price of $24.95. To order it, click on the package to be directed to our order form that contains other special offers on Archive mailings.