Donation Request Letter Envelopes Don't Have to Be Envelopes.

By: Alan Sharpe
www.ePhilanthropyFoundation.org
Friday, October 27, 2006

What would you do if I mailed you a package of black and white photos? Would you throw the package in the trash unopened?

That's the challenge that Canadian Feed The Children faced in a recent acquisition mailing. They wanted to stand out in their prospective donor's pile of mail (and not end up in the trash). So instead of taking a #10 envelope and adding some teaser copy to the front, they chucked the #10 altogether and used an unusual envelope that's a teaser from top to bottom, back and front.

The maroon envelope measures 6 inches by 9 inches. At the bottom is the word "PHOTOS." Stamped across the front beneath the address is the headline: "PHOTOGRAPHS ENCLOSED: DO NOT BEND."

The package bears the Canadian Feed The Children logo and return address on the flap, so the people who receive it will likely suspect that it contains some kind of appeal. But the envelope looks so much like the envelope you'd collect from your local photo finisher that it simply begs to be opened.

Inside, of course, is an appeal letter, written by the founder of an orphanage in Haiti. She tells her story, and illustrates her points with three black and white glossy photographs, each measuring 4 x 6 inches.

Each photo carries a hand-written caption of the names of each child in the photo. And on the back of each photo is a handwritten explanation of who the children are, how they came to her orphanage, and how Canadian Feed The Children helped these children through the help of generous Canadians.

I can think of only one word to describe this envelope, and that's "irresistible." So next time you're struggling with whether to use a #10 window or a #10 closed-face envelope, why not chuck the standard envelope altogether? Mail a package that's as creative and as unexpected and as tantalizing as this one from Canadian Feed The Children. See what happens.