• You review our credentials, expertise and experience as a direct mail fundraising letter agency, and review our portfolio.
• Using your telephone or our online quote form, you brief us about your project.
• We prepare and send you a formal Letter of Agreement, outlining the scope of our project, describing what we will do for you, detailing what we will write, design, print and mail, and when we will deliver each component, and listing our professional fee and terms.
• You approve and sign the Letter of Agreement, and return it to our office with your advance (usually 50% of the total project fee). You issue a purchase order if necessary.
• You supply any background information that we need, such as your case for support, samples of previous direct mail packages, and market research.
• Upon receiving your 50% retainer, we phone you. We ask lots of questions, about your organization, your services, your donors and members, your competitors, your marketplace challenge, your unique selling proposition, your clients, your prospective donors, your need, your ask, your call to action and more.
• We review current and past direct mail pieces that you have mailed, and discuss their results with you.
• We review articles that you supply about your organization.
• We review literature that you supply about your services.
• We review your website.
• We study your competitors' websites.
• We study literature that you supply about your competitors.
• We work with you to craft a compelling ask for your mailer.
• We translate your case for support into compelling, donor-centered benefits.
• We develop one to three creative concepts.
• We present the concepts to you, usually by PDF.
• You tell us what you think. We decide together on the creative direction you want to take moving forward.
• We write your copy, complete with theme, envelope copy, suggested visuals, headlines, subheads, body copy, captions, lift note, buckslip, brochure, reply device and website landing page (if needed).
• We design a mailing piece that looks stunning yet meets your budget (it can be done).
• We send you a first draft of copy.
• You send the copy back to us for as many revisions as you need, for up to 30 days.
• You approve and sign off on the final draft (which usually happens after just two rounds of revisions).
• We segment the final letter, crafting a customized version for each of the donor groups you are reaching (recent donors, high-end donors, lapsed donors, monthly donors)
• We send you the final draft.
• We go back and forth a few times with design revisions until you are satisfied.
• You approve the final copy and design.
• We deliver the artwork to our printer as an electronic file, ready for printing.
• The printer prints the pieces. We supervise the print run.
• The printer delivers your pieces to the lettershop.
• We supervise the folding, inserting, metering and mailing of your packages, across Canada or the United States.
• You start receiving responses from your donors.
• You enter the gifts in your database.
• We help you measure your success in terms of response rate, average gift, cost to raise a dollar and return on investment.
• You celebrate.
• We send you our final invoice.
• You pay.
• We celebrate.

Ready to move ahead?