The University of North Dakota’s St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center has been working with me for this past school year to create compelling ways to engage donors in fundraising that directly supports UND Catholic students. Appeal letters, newsletters, postcards, etc.
Their pastor, Fr. Luke Meyer, knows a LOT about media, messaging, and writing from his days working for their diocese’s Catholic newspaper. Sometimes it can be intimidating when your client is also an expert in the field, but with UND, more than anything, it’s been fun to get learn more from Fr. Luke and work together as a team to craft just the write messaging and find just the right images to go with it. This postcard for Giving Hearts Day (their annual community fundraiser for nonprofits) was especially fun because it was done in collaboration with a former student of theirs, John Goerke from Liquid Images, who is an incredibly talented photographer. He took the images, I did the layout, and Fr. Luke and I worked together on crafting messaging and options for giving.
When designing “just the right postcard” – think about who the audience is and what you want that person to do with it. In this case, we wanted them to remember when Giving Hearts Day was taking place, and then be compelled to give.
I also like to think about my mom in these cases who is the queen of keeping important things on her refrigerator (and in this instant, would also be part of THE target donor demographic for an organization like undCatholic). My question is always – would my mom keep this on her fridge? Would my mom know what date to give? And in looking at the details on the back of the postcard – would my mom know HOW to give? If I can answer yes to all those questions, then it passes the test. 🙂
So thanks, Mom, for being a good guide. And thanks Fr. Luke, John, and undCatholic team for letting me be part of your fundraising journey.
