Three years ago, they began returning home from far-flung war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq, bodies maimed, spirits as stout as ever.

And the veterans who would eventually found the Wounded Warrior Project in Virginia also returned home ready to take up a new struggle, this one to ensure quality living conditions for other injured troops coming back home.

They decided that one of the best ways to enlist support was to let people around the country learn about the soldiers’ stories. To this end, the Wounded Warrior Project launched a simple but impassioned direct mail effort to help solicit donations and other forms of support.

The group began sending out letters from veterans to clients, hoping to translate national sentiment toward returning troops into concrete backing. It worked. Today, helped greatly by its direct mail campaigns, the Wounded Warrior Project generates about $14 million a year and boasts more than 175,000 regular donors.

“We get them to respond by telling them a story,” says Geoff Peters, president of Creative Direct Response, a direct mail marketing company that represents the Wounded Warrior Project and about 100 other clients. “Usually, the story involves someone who’s been helped by one of the clients.”

Cause-oriented marketing has become the tool of choice for advocacy agencies of all stripes, from publicly funded institutions to consumer affairs groups. Frequently the strategy of non-profits, various combinations of direct mail and Web communications have buttressed the platforms of organizations with limited staffs and often with no publicity or advertising budgets. Gone are the days of phone calls, handbills or demonstrations as the only options for social organizations looking to mobilize supporters.

Peters, a direct mail expert, says a multichannel approach has arisen among social groups at a time when many critics thought direct mail would be obsolete.

“People have predicted the demise of direct mail marketing for over 25 years,” points out Peters. “The first time was when the fax machine was invented. The second time was the Internet. If you look at the history, what happened was they all used direct mail to get people to go to their Web sites.”