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We're proposing

A question for

A note

Hi Stephen,

A lot can change in a short space of time. We wanted to reach out personally, not with a generic offer, but with something created specifically for AIM.

The quarterly booklets were one of our favourite jobs to run, and the last one went out in October 2023. Three years is long enough that we thought we should ask rather than wonder. Thirty seconds to see whether any of this is useful. The detail is underneath if you want it.

Vanessa DooleyMailings Direct

01  /  Work to date

What we've made together

Quarterly booklet mailings, sent out for your supporter campaigns several times a year, up to October 2023.

We still hold the format, the artwork specification and the postage rates we were running for you, so restarting is a short job rather than a fresh brief.

4Mailings a year, when it was running
3Years since the last one
25+Years in business

02  /  The proposal

Four ideas for AIM

Supporter files age quietly and giving drifts when nothing lands. These are the four things we would do, in the order we would do them.

Before anything prints

01Start here

Clean the supporter file before the next one goes out

“Three years is a long time on an address list.”

A file that has not been mailed since 2023 will have moved, died and gone away in numbers that surprise most charities. Screening it first saves the postage on every piece that was never going to arrive, and it stops an appeal landing on a doormat where it would cause real upset.

  • PAF, gone away and deceased screening before print
  • Duplicates merged across the supporter records
  • A count of what came off the file, so you can see the saving
  • Done once, then maintained ahead of each mailing
The quarterly, restarted

02

Bring the booklet back, and give it something to do

“News is lovely. News with a reply device raises money.”

The quarterly was doing the important job of keeping supporters close to the work. What it was not always doing was asking. The same booklet with a proper response device and one clear ask in every issue earns its postage four times a year instead of none.

  • The format and spec you were already running
  • A reply device and a reply envelope in every issue
  • One clear ask per mailing, not three competing ones
  • Gift Aid capture built into the response form
A letter, not a booklet

03

Ask the people who give once to give monthly

“A regular giver is worth many times a single gift.”

Cash and one off givers are the single biggest reserve of income most missions have, and a booklet is the wrong vehicle for asking. A short personal letter naming what they last gave and when, sent to that group alone, is the highest return mailing in the charity sector.

  • Selected from your giving records, not the whole file
  • Personalised with their last gift and its date
  • A standing order or Direct Debit form enclosed
  • Small run, so it costs very little to test
Private, unhurried, printed

04

Start the legacy conversation properly

“Nobody writes a will because of an email.”

For a mission agency, legacies are the largest gifts you will ever receive and the slowest to arrive, so the conversation has to start years before it matters. It needs privacy, a serious piece of print and no pressure, which is exactly what a quiet mailing to long standing supporters can offer.

  • A considered pack rather than an appeal leaflet
  • Sent to supporters of long standing only
  • An invitation to request information, not to decide
  • Run once a year, quietly, on its own

03  /  Our part of the proposal

We'll design your next
campaign, free of charge.

Book your next campaign with Mailings Direct and the artwork is on us. Starting a campaign takes time, and we'd like to make that first step easier.

What's included

  • A creative concept tailored to your objective
  • Professional campaign artwork
  • Design adapted to the agreed mailing format
  • Print-ready artwork prepared for production
  • Reasonable revisions to get it right

Shall we work together again?

Stephen, you don't need a campaign planned out. Tell us which idea interests you and we'll come back with a price and a schedule.

Ask us to quote it

Or email sales@mailingsdirect.co.uk
Or call Vanessa on 0151 393 1409