Legion wins Best Use of Direct Mail award
07 July 2009
The Legion's Fundraising Division has scooped the Royal Mail sponsored Best Use of Direct Mail award in the Institute of Fundraising's national awards 2009.
The award is for the Flanders Field of Poppies direct mail campaign which the Direct Marketing team within Fundraising produced during last year's Poppy appeal.
The Royal British Legion wanted to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of World War One on 11 November 2008 with a special tribute. The concept involved inviting people to help create a special Flanders' Field of Poppies, with their own personal messages, beside the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium.
The campaign cold mailed over 1 million and warm mailed 400,000. The objectives were to recruit 10,000 new donors and to raise £632, 350 from warm donors with a 9% response rate. The target was to receive 40,000 Flanders Poppies with personal messages.
The overall results raised £2,322,641, recruited 17,323 new donors and 60,000 poppies were received. 70% of responsers' gift aided their donation.
"We are all delighted to have received this prestigious award from the Insitute of Fundraising," says Head of Direct Marketing Guy Upward. "This project was a great team effort and involved people from within the Legion and from our agencies Tangible Response and Brightsource.
"Our supporters were really taken by this appeal and we were amazed at the response - and the money - that they donated. We raised in excess of £2 million which far surpassed our wildest expectations.
"Let's also remember the real reason for the campaign - to commemorate all those young men that lost their lives fighting for freedom in the First World War, over 90 years ago."
