Postal

You’ve probably seen the Thanksgiving mailings many food banks send each year that use brown paper lunch bags as the carrier. It’s a great idea. These mailings always catch my eye for their unique size, shape and look when compared to the oft-used white No. 10 and even the 6-inch-by-9-inch carriers. But more organizations — mostly food banks, but I’ve seen animal shelters use this format as well — are mailing brown bags, and the novelty has worn off a bit. I noticed this sadly, as I perused the direct mail that had accumulated in our Who’s Mailing What! direct mail Archive last month.

When it comes to putting an end to hunger, there’s no time to waste. Here’s another example of a food bank that puts its purpose and need on the outer envelope in the hopes that recipients will pick up on this urgency and go inside. It’s a Thanksgiving voucher mailing from the San Diego Food Bank printed on cheap paper, with minimal colors, zero gloss and sparse elements. It screams budget, and it works. Why? Because its budget appearance validates the need it shouts on the 4.75-inch-by-6.5-inch outer, “3 Thanksgiving Meals—Just $1. Help Provide Food For Hungry Kids and Families. Immediate Reply Requested.” The mailing is

Bravo to St. Mary’s/Westside Food Bank Alliance for a mailing that hits its message home on the outer envelope and jolts recipients inside. What’s more, it does so by employing a teaser made up of just two simple images and seven words. The white No. 10 envelope features a shrunken image of a $1 bill tinted green with the words “100 of These” below it. Next to the dollar bill is a color photograph of a full plate of food with the words “Provide 700 of These!” below it. There’s a delicate balance when it comes to using a teaser on the outer envelope. You want

A white No. 10 carrier envelope mailed blind and devoid of any design elements can be intriguing. But so too is an envelope decked out in four colors, rife with graphics and teasers, like this mailing sent by Capuchin Franciscans of the Province of St. Mary. The outer of this mailing features a pastel-colored illustration of Padre Pio, right hand raised in a blessing motion, surrounded by flowers of all colors. It’s a strong image. The illustration spans the face of the envelope, reminiscent of a religious fresco. Teasers above the address window read, “Receive the miraculous intercession of Padre Pio … Join us

When you think about personalization, you think of mailings that call prospects by name, right? This mailing from People for the American Way takes that concept to a new place. Inside the 6-inch-by-9-inch manila-colored envelope that teases the “2006 Action Plan Enclosed” are elements that call the organization’s President Ralph G. Neas by name. For example, the call to action on the 5.5-inch-by-8.5-inch reply device reads, “YES, RALPH! I’m still with you. …” The first page of the eight-page, 8.5-inch-by-11-inch action plan — faux red-stamped “Confidential” at the top — includes a faux handwritten message in the Johnson box area that reads, “Our 2006

We live in a world of slogans. Whether through advertising or in the news we get on TV, slogans are everywhere. If you have a message, a catchy or otherwise memorable slogan can make it stick. While nonprofit organizations are not marketers or TV spin doctors, they too have messages that they struggle to have heard above the din. Using slogans of their own is one way to do that, as evidenced in this summer 2006 mailing from the ACLU. The No. 10 outer envelope is edged with a stately red, white and blue-striped border and features a headline that reads, “Crucial decisions are going

With this mailing, the Ocean Conservancy isn’t just presenting its mission, educating donors and asking for donations, it’s creating activists — “soldiers of the sea,” if you will. Sent in a 6-inch-by-9-inch four-color outer with a picture of a whale splashing in the sea, the mailing includes a sheet of personalized name and address labels, an “Advocate for wild, healthy oceans” decal and an offer of an Ocean Conservancy windbreaker — along with membership to the organization — with a gift of $15 or more. But the Ocean Conservancy doesn’t just give prospects the tools to pass on its brand and message; it educates them

For zoos, aquariums and museums, membership comes with some serious benefits, most often free admission. But when it comes to such institutions, there often are differing motivations for becoming a member: cost savings and status. This membership mailing from The Museum of Modern Art lays out both options — and giving levels in between — but aims to net the latter. Sent in a 4-inch-by-7.5-inch off-white, invitation-style outer envelope, it bears a live stamp and, just above the MoMA return address, the line, “Agnes Gund, President Emerita.” Announcing that it’s a personal invite from MoMA’s president from the start makes the mailing scream “high touch.”

When it comes to direct-mail appeals from Doctors Without Borders/Medecines Sans Frontieres, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one lacking a sense of urgency. As an international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by conflicts, epidemics and disasters, MSF writes urgency into everything it does — and it’s in the mail a lot asking for donor support. Still, the sense of urgency doesn’t get old or lose its effect because it’s real. For the most part, the organization’s mailings are relatively sparse, and the letters often use a typewriter font, making them feel as though they were hurriedly typed from the

This mailing from the Humane Society of the United States employs a unique freemium of a diary, but keeps it anything but secret. Written in maroon on the white 4.5-inch-by-8.5-inch outer is the teaser, “The enclosed FREE GIFT will help you throughout your day!” Inside the mailing — sent to HSUS members — is a 3.5-inch-by-7-inch reply device, a BRE, the 4-inch-by-6-inch four-color diary and a 7.25-inch-by-10.25-inch four-page letter. The paperback-weight cover of the diary has an adorable illustration of a puppy and kitten sleeping cheek to cheek. Inside are blank diary pages, as well as a mini-calendar and address-book pages. On the back