Children’s Health Foundation
Direct Mail
This letter was written for a Children’s Hospital Foundation that wanted their next appeal to focus on raising funds for mental health.
I interviewed a mom and daughter together. The daughter had been struggling with mental health for years. She suffered from extensive anxiety and was on the verge of severe self-harm.
When they finally went to hospital and got an appointment with a psychiatrist, they saw the first glimmer of help in the distance.
The mother used this wonderful metaphor, and that’s how I started the letter. She said it felt like they were lost, adrift in the ocean, no land in sight… and then finally a ship appeared… it was off in the distance, but it was getting closer and closer. There was finally some hope.
What I did was to link the donor into this story – the donor’s gifts are the catalyst that make this story possible.
This is yet another example of how speaking to program recipients – the people you actually help! – can really give you a greater insight into the true feelings and impact that a donor’s gifts have.
This package included a longer lift note written in the daughter’s words, and included some of her own illustrations, since she was going to be going to university for art.