This is the one time you should ignore your supporters. Because thanking them is probably the best investment you'll ever make. Particularly as now, more than ever, giving to charity is incredibly generous of people who are wondering if they'll be able to afford to pay for their groceries next month.

We recently wrote a thank-you letter for our client RSPCA. But it wasn't just any old thank-you letter. This letter thanked donors for everything they'd done for the charity during the previous 12 months. Every response to an appeal, every raffle ticket bought was acknowledged. And thanked.

There was no ask for money in this letter, yet the volume of 'white mail' it generated was far in excess of any RSPCA fundraising appeal (10 inches high and counting…). And none of these letters said "Don't waste money thanking me".

Many supporters wrote and phoned saying how they hate being asked by charities to give more all the time, then going on to say that because of the letter, they'll increase their gift. Another was prompted to leave a residuary gift in their Will.

Being the hardcore direct marketers we are, we wanted our client Sarah Vickery to test it so we could see how it affected the future 'performance' of the supporters who received it. Now Sarah understands DM as well as we do – but she said "No!" And do you know what? I think she was right, because Sarah recognised that there are some things that are so right to do that you don't test them – you just do it!

Nick Couldry

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Save the Children have appointed Whitewater after a three-way pitch with a brief to reinvigorate their donor acquisition programme with a range of new creative and media tests.

The campaigns which launch in November will test a range of proposition across inserts, direct mail and doordrops.

Jenny Morris, Save the Children's Supporter Acquisition Manager, said, "Whitewater's creative work was incredibly powerful, and we were impressed with their thorough approach to the brief. We're very excited to be taking their ideas forward into live testing."

Niamh Neville, Account Director at Whitewater, said, "Save the Children is a great brand to work on. We were inspired by the brief, so we're thrilled to have won this pitch. We have high hopes for the autumn tests."

Posted by Whitewater Team at 08:30 AM | Permalink

There is definitely something special about Whitewater. After starting last week and spending my first three days immersed in agency meetings, learning about our clients, I felt a real energy and commitment from everyone I spoke with. Then I realised: it's in the Whitewater DNA. It jumps out at you and hollers - don't think about being part of what we stand for unless you are passionate and believe you can make a difference. The doors are closed to non-believers.

I worked through the revolution that made the Internet a part of everyones lives and during that time had the pleasure of working with some really bright people on ground-breaking global campaigns.
And still I have been blown away by the quality of the Whitewater team and the care they take in every aspect of what they do. It might be obvious that we care – after all we work with charities and non-profits – yet the result is work of the highest quality. And does it generate results? It had better. We are primarily in the response business so numbers are what makes us tick.

I have been introduced to campaigns that are generating new donors with a positive ROI; new ways of thinking that are making this industry consider a different approach to marketing; and a TV ad which moved one experienced client to tears (and if I am honest, my eyes were a little moist when it finished).

And the Whitewater effect is having a real impact. One of our recent pitch wins was so impressed by our first campaign and the stops we pulled out to hit her deadlines that she sent us very personal thank-you card, while in another instance, chocolates were found on an Account Director's desk as acknowledgement for the hard work put in by everyone on their recent campaign launch. Two separate client thank-you's in the same week - brilliant.

For the first time in quite a while, I cannot wait to get into work. I may have been part of the team for less than 72 hours, but I am already feeling the effect.

Mark Roper

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:11 AM | Permalink