American Leprosy Missions’ powerful mailer raises awareness

Like many, Mary Hutchinson has never met a person with leprosy, has never had to deal directly with the disease, which has left millions in developing countries permanently disfigured. But instead of allowing the obscurity of the disease to be a hindrance, the marketing executive used it to help American Leprosy Missions educate direct mail recipients about how difficult living with leprosy remains for many of its victims.

Hutchinson, the president and creative director for CreativeOne Direct in Westford, Mass., crafted a compelling direct mail campaign that sent letters and a tight-fitting sock to potential donors. The letters asked them to cover a fist with the sock and try to complete a list of tasks pictured in the mailer.

Nearly 7 percent responded with an average donation of $302, according to ALM.

Deliver spoke with Hutchinson about the campaign and its results.

Deliver: How did you come up with this direct mail campaign?

Hutchinson: One of the most dramatic effects that people with leprosy often suffer is what happens to their hands. The victim will slowly find his or her hand becomes stiffer and stiffer until it is almost frozen in a claw. We wanted to illustrate what it would be like to not have use of a hand. What could you not do? How do you dial a phone, make coffee, button a shirt, do simple things in life? Our challenge to the donors in the copy from the outer billboard was to feel like a person with this disease. For a moment, experience what it’s like not to use your hand. Not everyone who has leprosy has this happen to their hands, but a large number do. The whole teaser was, “Can you open an envelope without using your right hand?” So we called it the “can you open” package. We wanted people to experience it for themselves. To be able to understand what it would be like to have this disability, for even 30 seconds.

Deliver: Why did the group choose direct mail?

Hutchinson: We were tasked to do the renewal program for existing donors. The people we mailed to had responded well to direct mail in the past, and it was the only logical choice.

Deliver: Was there another aim of the program besides compelling donations and raising awareness about the disease?

Hutchinson: We knew that a lot of the impact would be to help build donor understanding. The goal was to make sure that the package got opened, and it would be remembered. Even if they didn’t respond then, the hope was that they’d eventually respond.

Deliver: A lot is made of the marketing power of electronic media. Why did you decide to use direct mail for the ALM campaign?

Hutchinson: What is and was important to us is that we communicate to these people the way they wanted to be communicated with. We see people making the mistake of moving from direct mail to electronic communication to save money, and it is shortsighted. A charity that wants to raise the most money and keep its donors happy will test and learn what each donor wants – and give them that type of communication.

Deliver: So abandoning direct mail altogether is a mistake?

Hutchinson: It would be a mistake. Some have embraced e-mail – and even e-giving – but many prove in their patterns that they prefer the mail. A successful charity will have the data to know and give donors what they want.

And we have gone with clients who have (eschewed mail), and it’s like throwing the baby out with the bath water. And then they wonder where all their great supporters went. At this point, direct mail is a very important part of everybody’s program.

Deliver: So how do you determine which strategy works best, especially when your company focuses on nonprofits and religious organizations that depend on fundraising for survival?

Hutchinson: Our specialty is in database marketing, which helps us craft strategies for the various segments within a client’s file. We mail those who want to be mailed, we e-mail people who want to be e-mailed. We plan our touch points around the time of year the individual donor likes to give. Without a good database, you can’t do that. You can only guess. And when you start guessing in a boardroom and everyone is looking at costs, wrong decisions are easy to make.