Smart Stuff

Last week I focused on a powerful six-panel glossy pamphlet in a mailing from Planned Parenthood Federation of America. This week, it’s all about a six-page 8.25-inch-by-10.75-inch brochure in a Doctors Without Borders mailing.

The brochure, like the PPFA pamphlet, is compelling in its combination of arresting design elements and text. In this case, the design elements are the colors used in the brochure — deep black and red — and black-and-white photographs. Headlines like “Saving Lives” and “Commitment: Answering the Call” in reverse type (white) literally jump off the page.

Like the PPFA pamphlet, this brochure does a great job of putting the organization’s cause — and responsibility for the cause — in the hands of recipients.

Other elements in the mailing — sent in a white, No. 10 envelope — are an 8.5-inch-by-11-inch, double-sided letter, a 7-inch-by-8.5-inch reply device and a BRE. The ask string on the reply slip has lasered in donation amounts, in this case, $100, $150 and $200, which I find intriguing. These amounts are, most likely, lasered to match a donor’s previous gift amount, a subtle personalization technique that’s really smart.

Not only does personalizing the ask string bring the organization one step closer to getting the highest gift it can from a donor, it shows recipients that the organization is paying attention to their giving capacity. Who wouldn’t want to be associated with a smart organization like that?

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