The Oregon Humane Society recently adopted a valuable new fundraising method: Informed Delivery.
The Portland-based animal shelter, also known as OHS, raised more than $230,000 from a single mailing that included an Informed Delivery component.
Informed Delivery is a free feature that allows users to digitally preview their incoming mail and manage their packages from computers, tablets and other mobile devices.
Businesses, nonprofits and other organizations can add interactive content to subscribers’ Informed Delivery emails and dashboards, making the mailpieces more effective.
OHS’s mailpiece told the story of Petunia, a dog with allergies whose family surrendered her to the shelter because they couldn’t afford her health care costs.
After OHS cared for Petunia and restored her to health, she was adopted by a client who was looking for another dog to be a companion to his elderly Siberian husky.
Informed Delivery subscribers who received the OHS mailpiece also saw a color “ride-along image” in their daily email, which included a link to a video and a donation form.
“Informed Delivery connected their physical mail and digital strategies,” said Angela Bradley-Foxx, a Maryland Postmaster who is on a detail assignment at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC, where she works on mail repositioning marketing strategies.
“An omnichannel campaign works when a customer can see a physical piece as well as a digital piece. When you have both, it can really make an impact,” she said.
The impact for OHS is reflected in the numbers: 2,049 donations were made, totaling $236,000, a 7.7 percent increase from the organization’s campaign the year before.
Other charities and nonprofit groups have also used the feature to expand their fundraising capabilities.
Ross Imbler, OHS’s annual giving manager, said using Informed Delivery was “a great way to coordinate channels and raise awareness through every medium possible.”