British Red Cross launches cold mailing to recruit regular donors
Howard Lake | 30 January 2004 | News
The British Red Cross is launching a hard-hitting direct marketing campaign targeted at cold prospects in order to secure regular donations.
Currently the Red Cross has around 100,000 regular givers and the mailing is part of a strategy to grow this figure significantly over the next two years.
The ‘Look into these Eyes’ campaign, created by WWAV Rapp Collins West, is targeted at prospects over 35 years. It features a case study of ‘Evie’, a young girl from Zambia who has seen her mother forced to choose between feeding her or her sister, and has witnessed her brother and sister die of sickness and malnutrition.
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The mail-out demonstrates the impossible decisions forced on many people throughout the world in order to survive. It then highlights the ease with which potential donors might spend £2 per month without thinking, when the same amount would make a huge difference to someone like Evie.
The focus of the mailing is the eyes: it asks the reader to “look in her eyes and tell her that they need £2 more than she does.”
Charlotte Tams, Campaigns Executive, British Red Cross said: “The mailing is very powerful and forces the prospective supporter to look at their own needs in comparison with those in dire situations. It is the most emotive regular giving pack the Red Cross has launched in recent years with strong visuals and copy. We expect it to be highly successful in eliciting regular gifts from the public.”
The mail-out will be tested on 5 February 2004 both as a regular giving and cash ask. It will reach 41,000 prospects across the UK.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.