A Brand That Wears Boots

Talk about branding! I don’t even like Texas (it’s too hot, dry and flat), but I’m sold on the soul of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch. And to a creative director whose career started in writing, Dan seems like the perfect client. After all, he started his presentation with the perfect scenario for a fundraising writer: “The president’s job is to tell the story; the writer’s job is to make it readable.” And Dan tells a powerful story.

Sure, fundraising copy techniques are important in communication and effectiveness. We know how to get a response. But the tricks of the trade work so much better when they are encapsulating the heart and voice of a real, unique and memorable person. — the words and phrases, even a little twang, but most importantly, the heart.

Skillfully, Dan did all that with the history of the ranch, but he didn’t leave me in the past. He moved into present reality by recalling how the ranch staff recently responded to the latest tragedy involving children in Texas. When the state evacuated kids from the Mormon cult compound suspected of sexual abuse of minors and polygamy in 2009, the ranch made room for more than 70 of the boys. Dan’s storytelling was captivating as he pictured the hungry, frightened boys at their moment of crisis — and of the ranch opening its arms, beginning with a country meal of fried chicken and biscuits.

Of course, the ranch didn’t have budget to keep 70 additional children. But that’s its mission, so they did it anyway, getting the overwhelming donor response they needed for this extra effort.

What a story! Any writer would itch for the opportunity to share that kind of passion. The brand hasn’t changed in 70 years. Rescuing needy boys. Giving them a bed, good food, and teaching them to work and play. Building productive men out of boys who otherwise could easily turn out badly. Those roots endure.