The Lighter Side of Planned Giving: Personal Stories
An Almost Direct Mail Disaster
In 1975 when I was just starting out in the Development Business I worked at the St. Vincent Home For Children in Lansing MI - St. Vincent is a treatment center for boys and girls ages 5 - 17 who have been abused & neglected. I was asked to put together a direct mail piece at the lowest possible cost - the agency was in financial crisis - to raise funds to off set State of Michigan funding cuts in the day-to-day per diem.
I brought in the 50 seniors from RSVP - they hand addressed 47,000 envelopes - stuffed 47,000 envelopes with letters and a beautiful brochure and return envelopes - zip coded 47,000 envelopes in the right order to get the lowest possible postage cost. The only cost for the mailing was printing and postal cost! We had 150 postal bags piled high in the basement ready to go when the State of Michigan Licensing Consultant just happened to pop his head in the door and ask "What are you guys up to"! I very proudly should him the direct mail piece - and he asked "Do you have a publicity agreement for the children on the brochure?" After checking with the intake office I stated "Yes We Do" He than stated, I think it is against Department of Social Services rules and regulations to exploit children in fundraising efforts. Using there pictures to raise funds is exploitation - I will need to check this out and get back to you!
It took him three (3) days to get back to us! We were on pins and needles the whole time - He stated that he would allow us to mail the piece this time but in the future we were to use pictures (clip art of children - or employee children pictures) not children who lived at St. Vincent Home. The mailing was a huge financial success - we netted over $100,000.00.
A learned a HUGE lesson - make sure you check out all the rules and regulations before you go to press! I will always be grateful to the consultant - He could have stopped the mailing but he understood the financial situation of the agency - If he would have stopped the mailing my career in Development was over before it started!