More, More, More!

What day is it? In the span of only a few weeks, I received four wall calendars, a personalized pocket planner, a checkbook-sized calendar and a wallet-sized booklet calendar. Not unusual at first glance. But that’s just the beginning! Two of the wall calendars also had back-end premium offers; the pocket planner came with a funky flat pen; and the checkbook-sized calendar came with lots of seriously glitzy stickers and other fun goodies.

Note to self …
Five organizations sent me notepads — one of them personalized, most of them uninteresting. The one from Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., has chipboard backing and the most pages (24 sheets). The sheets all are branded with the PPMW logo and address, made to look like a prescription pad, but with “This is not an actual prescription pad” printed in tiny type at the bottom. The interesting thing about this package is that unlike every other notepad I received, there is not one mention of the notepad in the letter. It’s just there, looking like a prescription pad. Make of it what you will.

Defenders of Wildlife’s notepad is die-cut with a wolf pup at the top. Its and the USO’s are the only notepads that were not branded with the organization name and/or slogan, etc. The DOW package also stands out among the notepad offers because it included a back-end Windbreaker premium. More is more, is more.

Thinking of you
Note cards also were big this fall, which I wondered about after the latest postage increase and regulations on dimensional mail. Out of the half dozen collections I received, only one — from the Make-A-Wish Foundation — was the classic set of 10 holiday cards in a box.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center also sent 10 cards, but it is an all-occasion collection in an envelope with a large back window showing one of the cards [enclosed labels also can be seen through the window]. Because the art on the cards and labels predominantly is flowers, the package has more of a spring feel to it than the other card mailers’ autumn and holiday efforts, but the images are classics.

The Memorial Sloan-Kettering letter makes no mention of the cards or labels, but instead jumps right in with “Dear Friend, could you please send just $10 to help us continue making lifesaving advances in cancer treatment that can help save thousands of patients each year?” Short, simple copy and, perhaps because donors have seen it all before, this approach might work for Memorial Sloan-Kettering. I don’t know. But it did seem abrupt in contrast to the more typical soft sell used with freemium and premium offers.

And the Smithsonian Institution sent me three note cards with a letter about the National Museum of the American Indian. Not surprisingly, the cards have beautiful, very colorful photographs of “fancy dancers.” Like Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the Smithsonian also makes no mention of the cards in its letter. Instead, it offers a magazine subscription for a gift of $25, and the magazine plus a newsletter for a gift of $35 or more. Interestingly, a buckslip one-ups it yet again with the promise of a free calendar when I join with a gift of $35 or more.

More, more, more!
“Ms. Seville, Your 2007 Christmas Seals®, Gift Tags and 2 Bonus Gifts Are Enclosed,” the American Lung Association teased. “What’s the deal with that registration mark?” I thought, ripping into the envelope to end the suspense about the two bonus gifts. The gift tags are pretty substantial — two sheets of eight tags each in a booklet. The perfing is a little rough, but otherwise it’s an impressive set of premiums.

The American Lung Association is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Christmas Seals® — with a registration mark used each of the five times the words appear in the one-page letter. The symbol and such repeated use of it in the letter seem very big business and not in keeping with the otherwise warm and friendly copy. A small nit-pick about an overall winner, though.

My second-favorite goodie bag came from Sacred Heart Auto League and includes a personalized key chain, personalized key fobs, address labels, stickers and a notepad. The stickers are a bunch of photographs of flowers, like classic seals with gold-foil label. For me, the brilliance of this package is in the personalized key fobs and wallet card like the frequent shopper cards many stores offer.

The wallet card and three key fobs all say “2008 Member” and “Sacred Heart of Jesus Protect The Seville Family.” Three key fobs are enough for all of the drivers in your average donor’s household, and they are spot-on with the organization’s mission, distinguishing it as a truly outstanding freemium.

Not to be outdone when it comes to membership kits, The Humane Society of the United States mailed a very impressive effort this year. The outer is vintage HSUS with darling puppy and kitten photos, and inside is a three-panel folder with two pockets. Flipping up the first panel I discover my 2007 member key chain. Then, the next panel reveals the remainder of my loot: a heavy plastic membership card with my name embossed, three sheets of address labels and a handy tri-fold wallet calendar.

I was concerned that all of the membership items were marked 2007 until I read the letter. Right there in the lead, all is explained. “Dear Ms. Seville, I’m excited to send you your personal HSUS 2007 Members Only Summer Membership Kit.” It’s an excellent mid-year renewal tactic and definitely stands way, way out in the mail.

Freemiums and premiums aren’t for everyone, but for mailers that use them and the responsive donors who love them, it seems there are endless winning combinations in our future — and lots and lots of testing opportunities!

Kimberly Seville is a creative strategist and freelance copywriter. She can be reached at kimberlyseville@yahoo.com