Sound Off

How has your organization used premiums effectively? Tell us about one of your most successful campaigns.

“This premium isn’t my own creation, but one to which I responded for Habitat for Humanity.I’d never given to them before. I received a mailing that had a simple, silver-colored ‘washer’ (like the metal ring for sealing screws, etc.). Except the hole in the middle was cut into the shape of a house (think the green Monopoly houses). Printed along the outside of the washer was the message, ‘Bless This House’ on one side, and on the reverse, ‘Habitat for Humanity International.’

This premium moved me like no other before or after. I sent a substantial check (for a first-time giver). I wrote a letter to go with it about how impressed I was, as a fellow fundraiser. I tried to find the person in the organization who was responsible for the creativity but was unsuccessful. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve related this story to, which brings higher visibility to the organization.

The downfall: Habitat hasn’t succeeded in renewing my first gift. Their subsequent mailings have failed to move me. I still agree with their mission. But the negative press associated with the founder has turned me off a bit. And, since I responded to a premium as opposed to the organization’s vision, it would have taken an equally brilliant premium to prompt me to give again.”

— Rebecca E. Hunter, CFRE, chief development officer, American Thoracic Society, New York

This letter was provided by a reader of FS Advisor, FundRaising Success magazine’s weekly e-mail strategy guide, in response to a survey question posed in the Oct. 4 issue. To subscribe, go to www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com