THE CLIENT
The University of Minnesota Foundation advances the University’s mission of teaching, research, and community outreach by raising and managing private dollars that are used for scholarships, hiring world-class faculty, maintaining leading-edge research, building new facilities, as well as introducing new academic programs on all four campuses of the University. These funds are raised via direct response marketing to alumni and friends.
THE CHALLENGE
Annually, the client produces a cooperative, college-specific mailing with a two-fold strategy. First, the mailing program had to accommodate each of the 21 colleges’ need for customized content such as letter copy, logos, and a college specific premium. Second, they wanted to create the sense of a personalized engagement with each recipient by using content that spoke to each individually. These strategic requirements needed to be achieved within a fixed budget.
THE SOLUTION
Full customization of the package meant that the letter copy, logos, photos, and campus addresses had to be variable and data-driven. To meet these requirements, we produced a double-window envelope that allowed the outgoing address to show through on one side while displaying the custom premium on the other side. Variable data printing (VDP) was used on the letter to achieve the personalization. Our full-color VDP equipment, allowed us to swap out digital assets based on the data per each recipient. We also recommended a college-specific window cling to be included to help further boost response. Since the mailing did not qualify for drop-shipping we were able to provide cost savings by co-palletized the mailing of the 21 colleges which reduced postage expenses.
THE RESULTS
The recommendation for co-palletization and our extensive production experience allowed us to produce this highly customized campaign for less than its pre-allocated budget requirement. The personalized components drove an 11% increase in total dollars and a whopping 68% lift in average gift which helped maximize the client’s desired return-on-investment goal for this personalized fundraising program.
HIGHLIGHTS
• 11% increase in total dollars
• 68% life in average gift amount
• Maximized ROI
• Completed under budget