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Friday, May 30, 2008
Wren’s Nest Marketing Tricks: Using Pens To Raise Money

Posted by: Amelia // Category: Marketing Tricks // 2:11 pm

It’s that time of year again, folks. Begging time!

Oliver Twist-esque fundraising methods

“Aren’t you guys always begging?” you may ask astutely. To that I answer, “Yep! But right now we’re doing it formally …with letters!”

You see, July 3rd, 2008 will mark the 100-year anniversary of Joel Chandler Harris’ death.

100 Year Anniversary of Joel Chandler Harris Death

And I ask you, is there a better way to recognize a full life and a lasting legacy than to ask for memberships?

Nope!

Our goal is to have 400 memberships by the anniversary of JCH’s death, and we’re offering a special $100 “centennial” membership that comes with perks like free books and free admission and a sense of doing good. Though the last one comes every time you support the Nest! Hint! Hint!

In order to reach this goal, we’re bringing out the big guns. That’s right: personalized hand-written notes on each letter.

Ask nicely and carry a big pen

This is one of our most basic and successful tactics.

You know how you feel 10x as special when you get a card written by hand, rather than typed? Well, you’re not alone. Years and years of diligent research have shown us that everyone loves that. Well, at least literate people.

The only downside to this method is that it takes forever. Well, maybe not that long, but these have been a couple hand-cramped, semi-cranky days, I tell you what. If it weren’t for Scrabulous, I don’t know what we would have done.

License

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5 Comments


  1. Joe
    Comment // June 2nd, 2008 // 10:21 am

    So? How is it working out?


  2. lain
    Comment // June 2nd, 2008 // 10:28 am

    …still writing!

    We’re also waiting on the printers for more Wren’s Nest stationary, plus return envelopes. We’ll probably have a good idea of results in a month or so.

    It’s a lot different this time around since this time we (a) have a database and (b) have a bunch more people to write. After this I figure we’ll have outgrown the current way of doing things because it’s too time intensive. For the time being, however, I think folks will appreciate the personal touch.


  3. Joe
    Comment // June 2nd, 2008 // 9:49 pm

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/02/frost.house.ap/index.html

    Not related to the topic at hand at all, but since it was mentioned in a long-ago post…


  4. Joe
    Comment // June 3rd, 2008 // 8:06 am

    Did you see the article about the Robert Frost vandals on CNN dot com? I would put in the link, but that would get me caught in the spam filter.


  5. lain
    Comment // June 3rd, 2008 // 10:52 am

    There you go, Joe - fished it out for you. It’s easy to find if I know what I’m looking for!

    And yeah that’s pretty awesome. Perhaps we’ll find the time to blog about it this week. The staff of the Wren’s Nest loves poetic justice.

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