Writing Off the Risk

On to Page 2
Page two is an invitation to visit the memorial and has excellent donor-centered “you” copy:

“Your steadfast generosity is the reason why I am visiting this Memorial today.

More importantly, you are the reason why tens of thousands of people have experienced
the Memorial’s overwhelming beauty, power, and poignancy since it opened last September.

If you haven’t already, please come see it for yourself soon.

If you have been here, I hope you will come back and see how it feels again … see the trees begin to come alive this Spring, feel how the surging power of the waterfalls makes your heart skip a beat, see the reactions of the other visitors as they drift by the names inscribed in bronze panels around the edge of the pools.

It’s all here because of you.”

This letter misses not a single opportunity to make it all about me, and even in talking about the memorial puts me in the center of it. More mad skills.

The rest of the letter is about building the museum “which will tell the thousands of personal stories of 9/11, bearing solemn witness to the attacks, honoring the nearly 3,000 victims, and paying tribute to those who demonstrated extraordinary courage and compassion in the days and weeks that followed.”

In the closing paragraphs, a return to the sentiment the letter opened with:

“On days like today, I am overcome by the goodwill and generous spirit you have shown. You have truly put us on the path of recovery and renewal.”

What a lovely way to close such a warm and personal letter.

The reply form is a 6-inch by 9-inch sheet of the same ivory stock as the outer envelope and letter, printed with a black and white photo of the memorial at the bottom that’s a little dark and difficult to decipher. Since the reply copy is printed in a sans serif font and not the simulated handwriting one used for the letter, white stock would yield a crisper image — but it’s certainly not the end of this package’s world.