Guide Dogs wraps up anniversary year with Christmas thank you
Howard Lake | 20 November 2006 | Newswire
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is approaching its loyal supporter base in the run-up to Christmas with a festive fundraising appeal. The campaign is designed to thank supporters for their previous generosity with a small present of Christmas greetings cards or gift labels, whilst encouraging an extra one-off donation.
TDA has developed the creative strategy which involves the use of an emotive case study about a 65 year old man, Derek Upton, who lost his sight very suddenly and became virtually housebound. Derek received an early Christmas present from the charity last October – his first guide dog, Ricky. He quickly regained his independence and mobility and was able to enjoy a walk with Ricky after his Christmas dinner. Derek’s story encapsulates the core message Guide Dogs wants to communicate to its supporters.
“Our Christmas campaign brings to an end our year of celebrations surrounding the 75th anniversary of the first guide dogs in the UK,” said Trevor Hickman, Marketing Manager at Guide Dogs. “Since then we have helped over 25,000 blind and partially sighted people enjoy the increased mobility and independence that a guide dog can bring. We continue to play a vital role and Derek’s experience shows what a difference a guide dog can make to a visually-impaired person’s life. We rely entirely on the financial support of our donors to continue providing support to blind and partially-sighted people in the UK.”
“The aim of this communication is to evoke an immediate response, either through the post or online,” said Jamie Taylor, Account Director at TDA. “We know that Guide Dogs’ supporters are motivated both by their love of guide dogs and by being able to help people regain their independence. This campaign should work powerfully on both counts to generate extra income for the charity.”
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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.