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What happens when you give donors
more direct access to those they want to help?
Nearly ten years ago , the Russ
Reid Company began using bouncebacks - - items sent to the donor in a direct
mail appeal and then returned by the donor with his or her gift. A bed
ticket developed for the Los Angeles Mission was one of the first bouncebacks.
This reproduction of a ticket was given to a homeless person to provide
one night's lodging. This simple scrap of paper, that put donors directly
in touch with those they wanted to help, was tangible evidence that help
was being provided. The bed ticket evolved into a meal ticket which gave
us another breakthrough. It allowed us to attach a dollar value to the
service being provided. "Return this meal ticket with one dollar and
forty-seven cents and provide a hot meal for one homeless person this Thanksgiving."
Since then, place mats, table
tent cards, bookmarks and prayer cards have been tested. But what we've
discovered is the closer we stay to the services the donor wants to provide,
or perceives the recipient needs, the greater response. Russ Reid's most
recent success in the development of bouncebacks is a version of the original
meal ticket. Developed in response to donors' fear of, or frustration with,
being approached on the street by panhandlers, this new response device
was tested for the first time in February, 1995. In its first test,
this simple cardboard disk, called, "Spare Change" generated
responses from donors as high as 10%, with an average gift of $22.
Contributed by Cindy Courtiers
Creative Director at the Russ Reid Company. Contact via e-mail at: CCourtier@russreid.com
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