Take a closer look at mail pack folder, letter, insert booklet and reply envelope.
Take a closer look at the legacy giving newsletter.
Year End mail appeal
Take a closer look at the holiday appeal letter, insert and envelope.
Capital Campaign mail appeal
Take a closer look at the holiday appeal letter, insert and envelope.
Year End mail appeal
Take a closer look at the newsletter, appeal letter and envelope.
Newsletter and mail appeal
Read the newsletter and appeal letter.
Newsletter and mail appeal
Campaign case statement
The MSF case was centred around stories of doctors, volunteers and donors. We wanted each reader to see and feel their own values reflected in the powerful and profound mission of MSF, including bearing witness to injustice and performing life-saving surgeries and procedures without taking sides in any conflict or disaster. This case was also one of the first appearances of our now-quite-beloved organization timeline. Yes, you read that right.
We took the impressive body of work of MSF and ran a timeline through the piece that asked readers: “Do you remember these humanitarian milestones within your own life story?” The timeline is meant to have readers nodding along and saying, “Yes, that was the year my daughter was born” or “I can still feel that pit in my stomach when I heard that news story”. And the call to action, repeated throughout, was for the reader to reflect on their own MSF story, and reach out for a conversation.
Direct Mail
How do you describe the sound of a heartbeat? Our lead in this letter was meant to pique interest and also reflect the diverse communities that are served by Toronto’s world class (and the world’s first digital) Hospital. But it’s the inserts that really make the
pack shine. Janet is a nurse at the Hospital who was interviewed and we asked her to talk us through all the equipment and needs within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Campaign case statement
Oregon Zoo was seeking a case for support that brought to life their dreams of adding and renovating habitats and also making critical investments in animal welfare and education programs. This project was all about the voices and stories of people that love the zoo. We conducted delightful and long-
format personal interviews, asking everyone: Where is your heart in the zoo? And we used gorgeous and custom-made illustrations to bring the creative to life because, as you’re holding this in your hands, it’s still just a dream. A dream that donors can make possible.
Spring Appeal
Camp Ooch is a camp for kids and families affected by childhood cancer. We started working with them on their direct response program is only a few years old and has seen phenomenal growth. Our packs share a variety of voices from around the organization, and creatively we almost always include a blend of photographs and illustrations. This particular pack shared the story of Jada and her journey.
As part of this campaign development, together we realized that this organization had a tremendous growth opportunity in a mid-level giving program, so we created this special Jada storybook as a keepsake, and revised the response form to ask for higher level gifts. The whole campaign exceeded all targets and expectations, including a donor who ran a small publishing house and asked for permission to reprint the Jada storybook as part of a children’s book collection!
Gratitude video
Did you just watch this? SOB. John and Jen wrote, shot, edited and have shared this video in presentations and webinars and we still get that cryball in our throats when we watch it. Working in collaboration with Atomic Spark, we set out at dawn to capture the stories of a few Habitat for
Humanity families who were now living in their beautiful homes. The video was originally produced for a Mother’s Day donor recognition event, and when first screened for donors you could hear the sniffles of tears, the “awwwws”, and then followed by thunderous applause.
Legacy Giving
Humber River Hospital Foundation is able to purchase new equipment, invest in their frontline heroes and provide love and care to patients and families every single day because of ongoing revenue from donors who remember the Hospital in their Will. Like many organizations, their legacy program was mostly passive and reactive. Their first step into active legacy lead generation was this direct mail survey pack, and it was phenomenally successful: a 15% response rate including new confirmed legacies and also donors asking for more information or a conversation.
In addition to prompt and professional personal communications, we also developed a follow-up piece which we call the ‘Why’ Brochure. This piece shares stories of donors from a variety of backgrounds who share why they have remembered Humber in their Will and what they hope their gift will mean in the future. And, as this one does, our Why Brochures also contain stories of donors who have passed on and gives their loved ones an opportunity to share what that means to them. You just can’t make this stuff up: her name really was Lois Lane!
The story of Colina and David
Within minutes of hearing we would be working with the amazing Sarah Lyon on this project, John and I developed the world’s shortest brief: connect us with one family who has been helped by your local Alzheimer Society. Sarah connected us with David, and his daughter Emily, to tell us the story of Colina, who is living with dementia. Our conversation sparkled with love and gratitude, and was punctuated
with memories of sadness and loss. We asked David to grab that old box of family photos and send it along, promising to care for it as if it was our own. The end result is a piece that looks and feels like a family scrapbook, inviting donors to see their crucial role in families like these. And Sarah can attest that they had to reprint the piece 3 or more times because they kept running out of copies!
Legacy Giving
Agents of Good are deeply proud to have been working with Ontario Nature since we first started. Now over a decade later, this robust and dynamic annual program continues to deliver and provide critical funds to save nature in our province. And their legacy program is central to their ongoing success. We created this Why Brochure for them to use as a follow-up for donors asking about legacies, and also to have at their office and on-site at events.
Right from the cover, you know this is going to be a special piece: it looks and feels like a naturalist’s field guide, and it shimmers and shines with donor stories. Kirsten’s introductory message demonstrates her love and pride in her work and her genuine interest in working with donors to achieve victories for nature. Every good legacy program has a face and a voice. Kirsten is the face, the friendly and helpful person you can call to talk about your giving. Caroline is the voice, sharing the organization’s vision and inspiring trust and confidence in this work.
Public Service Announcement Video
Intimate partner violence, most often violence against women and children, is gut-wrenching and grotesque. And, the “if it bleeds, it leads” approach to fundraising for women’s crisis organizations can also be pretty awful. We wanted to, delicately, humanize
the idea of the muffled cry behind the door, the unexplained sound of breaking glass or the screeching tires outside. We send love and solidarity to anyone who finds this work triggering or traumatic. Please reach out for help if you need it.
Spring Appeal
A few days after this appeal hit mailboxes, we received an amazing email from the client:
“Recently, I made a small donation to your organization in response to an appeal letter, dated May 28, 2020, from Caroline Schultz. Although I am a big fan of Ontario Nature and its mission and activities, I am not usually in the habit of making such donations. Instead, I have chosen to support your organization financially through a bequest in my will… It wasn’t so much the letter that hooked me (although Caroline’s writings are always good; I especially like her introductory columns in the ON Nature
magazine). No, it was something else that convinced me to give: It was the lovely artwork! The wildlife sketches struck a chord in me. I would give my left arm [don’t worry, I’m right-handed!] to be able to draw or paint like that.”
Messages like these are, quite simply, the reason we do this work. Immediately, we shared this email with everyone on our team: writers and editors, illustrators and designers, and our print and production crew. Messages like these remind us that every time we finish a project, we hope it lands on someone’s kitchen table or email inbox and makes people feel even a fraction of this.
Read the letter here.
Direct Mail
Here in Canada, the paper food drive bag is iconic. Generations of Canadians have donated at the grocery store or in the neighbourhood, putting items into a brown paper bag to share with the food bank. Agents of Good are notorious for creating “mascots” for certain projects, developing campaigns that come from unique and sometimes inanimate objects: a truck, a hummingbird, and in this case, Phil, The Bag. Get it?
Phil can say things that humans can’t. How else could we tell a story about a paper bag getting magical powers and becoming Santa’s helper? The Executive Director sure as shit wouldn’t say that! Phil allowed us to put a voice to the action of filling the bag with food and funds to feed our hungry neighbours.