Direct Mail
United Way of the National Capital Area:
Making a Difference in the Community
Background
Throughout its 30-year history, the United Way of the National Capital Area (UWNCA) has strived to better the lives of people in the greater Washington DC area. Their annual fundraising campaign generates millions of dollars that are then distributed to over 900 UWNCA partners who provide health and human services programs throughout the region. As part of the 2008 Annual Fundraising Campaign, UWNCA sought to shine a light on issues that were greatly affecting area residents. After listening to their partner organizations as well as leaders and members of the community, they identified childhood obesity and affordable housing as problems in the greatest critical need. As a result, UWNCA developed the Childhood Wellness and Affordable Housing Initiatives to both improve awareness and raise money to help fund partner programs addressing these important issues. The organization also created an additional program, Community Impacts, to serve as an umbrella initiative to help funnel non-earmarked funds towards grants for qualifying member agencies.
JDG's Solution
To help raise awareness, JDG developed oversized postcard inserts for the three initiatives. Each insert highlights key facts about the critical issues and explains what UWNCA is doing to help. The inserts will be distributed to individual donors, member agencies and community centers throughout the DC metropolitan area. Research about the donor audience found that donors are more likely to contribute to a cause when the issue is presented in both a personal, and factual way. Through the use of first names and often startling statistics, the messages of the insert tell a story, create a sense of urgency and explain how to make a difference by donating to one of the specific causes. A single image of a person or family affected by the issue became the focal point of each insert. Black and white imagery was used as a way to be reminiscent of newspaper-style photography, thus creating a more factual and credible tone.
Results
To date, approximately 4,000 inserts have been distributed to prospective donors, member agencies and community centers. In addition, UWNCA was so satisfied with the look and feel of the inserts that they have since used it to form the basis of an ad campaign to communicate their message to an even greater audience.
