And the Winners Are …

ACQUISITION (50,000 Mailed and More)

DOROT Food Sticker and Meal Ticket Acquisition
Submitted by Lautman & Co.

Numbers
Number of Recipients: 134,603
Total Income Generated: $57,488
Average Gift: $43.45
Total Out-of-Pocket Costs: $49,615
Response Rate: 0.98 percent
Cost to Raise a Dollar: $0.86

This mailing by DOROT, a New York City-based organization that provides kosher meals to home-bound Jewish elders in the tri-state area, is the product of an organization’s realization that it needed to do something fresh to gain new donors in the same small, regional market it had been reaching out to — and saturating — for 15 years.

Rather than tease or beat around the bush, DOROT states the package’s purpose from the outset on the front of its No. 10 white carrier envelope: “Meal Tickets Enclosed: Please Help Feed the Jewish Elderly.” To the right is a sticker with an illustration of a plate of food and instructions to place the sticker on the enclosed reply form.

Inside is a four-page, 8.5-inch-by-11-inch letter, a reply device of the same dimensions and a simple, white BRE. Though few in number and relatively simple, the mailing’s elements are anything but ordinary. The letter does an amazing job of using quotes from the elders DOROT serves to shed light on the work the organization does. The Johnson box sets the stage with three consecutive quotes from Estelle, Ruth and Harry that demonstrate the need for the work DOROT does, e.g., “‘Since I broke my hip, I’m trapped at home — it’s impossible for me to shop or cook for myself.’ — Estelle G., 90.”

The same three people are quoted and referred to later in the letter to illustrate how DOROT helps them. For example, on Page 2, Estelle is quoted again, saying, “With the delicious, frozen kosher meals I receive from DOROT every week, I can have nourishing food without sacrificing my traditions.”