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SOFII’s view:
The last in this series of renewal and reactivation appeals is the cleverest, we feel. It introduces supporters who have resisted all the other requests in the cycle to the concept of a new and very dangerous threat to the already threatened environment: the donor’s own inertia. Part of human nature, inertia is referred to in many ways, perhaps the best of which is the Spanish mañana – ‘Oh, OK, I’ll do that tomorrow’. And it never gets done. So, an understandable and hopefully mostly forgivable insult becomes one last chance to keep a valued supporter ‘in the fold’.
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Name of exhibitor: Maxine Delahunty, SOFII homeless section.
Email: maxine@sofii.org
Name of exhibit: Greenpeace UK’s cycle of renewal and reactivation mailings from the late 1980s. The ‘inertia’ mailing.
Date of first appearance: Early 1990s.
Category/area of fundraising: Direct mail to individuals, membership renewal.
Country of origin: UK.
Summary/objectives: This final mailing in the series neatly presents supporters, who in recent months have resisted four previous urgent appeals to renew their subscription, with a dilemma. The environment is being trashed and Greenpeace is restricted from fighting the process simply because they, one-time Greenpeace supporters, can’t get themselves in gear sufficiently to sign a simple piece of paper and renew for a bit longer.
Background:
This pack really did work. But, of course, not with everyone. There was actually one last attempt beyond this one (you didn’t really expect Greenpeace to give up, did you?). This was simply a colourful card saying GOODBYE and thank you.
That often worked, where all the others had failed. Inertia is a funny thing.
Creator/originator: Burnett Associates working with Annie Moreton and Charlotte Grimshaw at Greenpeace UK.
Without you we're sunk.
With you, we can change the world.
Special characteristics:
Very ‘in your face’, very Greenpeace. SOFII doesn’t have an illustration of the final ‘thank-you’ mailing, so if you can supply one or add any detail to these exhibits, please contact Carolina.
Influence/impact:
These were expensive to produce and took a lot of organising, so provided a powerful incentive to move supporters as rapidly as possible to regular monthly giving by direct debit.
Test details:
Results are not available but this series worked much harder than the renewal series it replaced.
Why do you think this exhibit merits a place in SOFII?:
The entire series is a good example of an important fundraising mechanism in the process of being replaced by a better way of doing things.
Any other relevant information:
Please contact Carolina if you can add any detail to this exhibit, or to any of the following exhibits.
