Campaign of the Year: Ronald McDonald House Charities

The letter takes all of about three minutes to read, but there’s no doubt the reader goes back to that tiny hat often while reading it.

The last thing you see is a little footprint at the end of the letter, in the P.S. It just seems sweet until you actually read the P.S. and the line of italicized type at the very bottom of the page: “Emmie’s footprint at birth (actual size).” Wow.

The package also contains a page of coupons that very simply delineate how specific donation amounts can make a difference: $100 sponsors a family for 10 nights; $420 sponsors a family for six weeks, etc. It’s a fresh take on the traditional ask string, made even more compelling by the black-and-white photos of preemies on the reverse side.

The 2013 Fundraising Campaign of the Year is a beautiful study in simplicity that nonetheless moves the reader without being brash or over-the-top. Congratulations to the folks at Ronald McDonald House Charities and TrueSense Marketing. We just have one more thing to say: Wow.