St. Thomas Elgin Hospital Foundation
Direct mail
This letter started off as a bit of a struggle for me. I’d already written a great letter for this appeal — asking donors to fund a new ventilator. It was a slam-dunk, highly emotional, compelling letter about the most basic of all human needs: the need to breathe.
But then we found out the ventilator had already been funded. Back to square one.
We learned the hospital urgently needed to fund a new C-Arm. It didn’t sound all that exciting at first — not after a letter about a new ventilator during COVID. However, our amazing client, Amanda, hooked me up to an interview with a wonderful hospital staff person who was able to tell me in great detail just how vital this piece of equipment actually was.
I made use of the senses, as well as the word ‘you’ to draw the reader in and engage them from the very first sentence. It also creates a sense of urgency and ‘breathlessness’ and has a very easy to read and understand format and tone.
I also wrote copy for a short, yet personal note from the Executive Director to be printed on the back of a “photo” of the C-Arm to increase the feeling of personalization.