TM: At first, did recipients have a visceral reaction to getting direct mail from an eco-friendly organization? Especially, what was their first reaction to seeing a picture of a tree on a green piece of plastic?
JT: I think they were intrigued. Of the people that I've personally handed these to—because we have extras printed up in our office—they have really been excited. And they immediately begin thinking of us as an eco-friendly organization, as compared to all the paper mail that they get in their mailboxes everyday.
TM: Do you think this direct mail helped increase gala registration?
JT: I think that it did increase registration, although marginally. The biggest thing that it did for us is [raise our profile, because] we are a 30-year old organization that no one has ever heard of. Despite the fact that we have a very large budget, we're a nonprofit organization, we're very active in the community—we have, for our first 30 years, been pretty quiet about what we do. And this mailing really made people say, "Who are the Parks People?" And it drove them to our Web site to learn more about us and to see what we're doing. I expect the invitation to not only generate revenue for our fundraising gala, but also to put us in the minds of people when they're thinking of making just general donations. And, in addition to receiving RSVPs for this event, we've also had people call and ask how they can just donate directly. ... It's very definitely created a buzz about who we are and what we do.
Cracking the QR Code
The Art & Science of Multichannel Fundraising