ROI-Driven Charity Mailing Campaign for The Birmingham Hospice

Birmingham Hospice, facing a critical funding shortfall, partnered with Central Mailing Services (CMS) to redevelop their annual donation appeal. We’re proud to announce that the collaboration resulted in a highly successful direct mail campaign that surpassed expectations and provided crucial support for the hospice’s vital services.

About The Birmingham Hospice

The Birmingham Hospice offer free specialist care to the local community. Though due to insufficient funding from the government and a steep rise in the cost of energy, food and medicine, Birmingham Hospice have been forced into a deficit budget. Sadly, in light of this, they had to make the decision to reduce their services and close inpatient beds as a result of the funding shortages. You can learn more about the Hospice, and donate, here.

The Challenge

  • Raise £6.5 million to maintain services, a £1 million increase from the previous year
  • Overcome fundraising difficulties due to economic challenges
  • Improve direct mail performance to boost donations

The Results

The campaign significantly outperformed expectations:

  • Income: £42,199 (exceeding our target of: £25,000)
  • ROI: 7.4:1 (again, exceeding our target of: 3:1)
  • Response Rate: 5.76% (576 donations from 10,000 households)
  • Online Donations: 15.2% of total income (£6,447) from 16.4% of responses

Compared to the 2022 appeal

  • 31% increase in income
  • 0.9 point improvement in ROI
  • 1.38 percentage point increase in response rate

How We Achieved The Results

Central Mailing’s Solution

Central Mailing Services implemented several strategic changes to enhance the effectiveness of Birmingham Hospice’s direct mail campaign:

Truly Personalised Mail

Through using variable data printing, we added recipient names to the all mailing types throughout the campaign, including outer envelope to increase open rates.

Interactive Donation Stickers

We introduced tangible price points for donors to choose specific areas of support.

QR Code Tracking

Implemented trackable QR codes to monitor online donations resulting from the mailing, ensuring the Hospite get an accurate representation of their ROI for the campaign. 

Targeted Partially Addressed Mailing

We expanded reach to those potential high-income households in selected postcodes through utilising the latest technologies and distribution methods within partially address mailing (PAM). 

Value Added

  • Data Insights: Gained valuable information on donor preferences for funding specific aspects of care
  • Cost-Effective Improvements: Enhanced campaign effectiveness without significantly increasing costs
  • Multi-Channel Approach: Successfully integrated direct mail with online donation options

Client Testimonial

Katie West, Senior Fundraising and Supporter Experience Manager at Birmingham Hospice, praised the collaboration:

“Our most recent direct mail with Central Mailing Services that landed in May 2024 has exceed all our expectations, surpassing the income target and all key performance indicators. By accessing the wealth of expertise and knowledge within the team at CMS from personalisation to data segmentation and trackability we have been able to deliver our strongest direct mail to date and have a new direct mail strategy that will continue to reap results.”

Proud to Offer Results-Driven Charity Mailing

Through strategic improvements and data-driven decision-making, Central Mailing Services helped Birmingham Hospice significantly boost the performance of their direct mail campaign. This success provided critical support for the hospice during a challenging financial period, demonstrating the enduring power of well-executed direct mail strategies in charitable fundraising. To this day, it’s one of the projects we’ve been most proud to work on – with the charity close to many of our employees’ hearts. Thank you once again to the Hospice, for putting their trust in us.

Web Design and SEO By Zinc Digital

© 2024 Central Mailing Services