10th Annual Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence

By Sean Norris

Direct Mail Acquisition Annual Operating Budget $10 Million or Over

May 2014 Acquisition Appeal
The American Fondouk
Submitted by DaVinci Direct

The Numbers
Recipients: 65,078
Response Rate: 2.95 percent
Total Cost: $57,403
Income Generated: $50,237
Average Gift: $26.19
Cost to Raise a Dollar: $1.14
Cost to Acquire a Donor: $3.74

Why It Won
“Great lead-in—affirming, not guilting.” “Stunning photography.” “Appeal is unusual and heartwarming.” These were just a few of the notes from our judges on this campaign from DaVinci Direct on behalf of The American Fondouk, a Boston-based nonprofit that provides charitable veterinary care in Morocco. The letter opens with an attention-grabbing plea to animal lovers—“If you truly love animals, you love all animals. Not just the pretty ones, the healthy ones, the young ones”—and includes a story that begins, “We’ve seen a man literally paralyzed by sorrow.”

It amounts to an effective mailing that plays to donors’ emotions while concisely explaining the charity’s mission—critical for an organization that works with service animals overseas, rather than cute, cuddly puppies at home. The campaign was a success, generating a 2.95 percent response rate, an 84.38 percent increase over the projected response rate.