It’s a delicate thing asking for money. A direct appeal letter needs to quickly capture the readers’ attention, answer why they should support this institution, ask just the right amount of times, and ask clearly in a call to action, all the while being engaging, warm and straightforward.
Recently, we created a direct appeal letter for Cohen Children’s Medical Center, a renowned stand-alone pediatric hospital on Long Island, New York. What was unusual about the letter was that it was highly designed, as well as carefully written. Through content and visuals, the letter accomplishes a lot—it alerts the reader to the national standing of the hospital and features an innovative neurodevelopmental division. It also provides some history to this extraordinary facility and provides an attached reply device. Design-wise, it further echoes a larger advertising campaign, featuring some of the tag lines and photos from that marketing campaign without merely mimicking the ads themselves.
> If you need help creating a direct appeal, give Lazzaro Designs a call or shoot us an email.
Many of our individual clients need new head shots, whether to spiff up their LinkedIn pages or for corporate purposes. We are happy to recommend Susan Stava to them.
Susan began her career as a photographer contributing to The New York Daily News on assignments where she quickly stood out as a street shooter with an artistic angle. She developed her unique style working as a photojournalist over the next 25 years. Her photos appear in magazines, newswires and on the web worldwide in publications as varied as The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Newsday and Newsweek. Her excellent technical skills and warm, approachable personality make her an excellent portrait photographer. Many executives from diverse industries have taken advantage of her skills. We have also worked with Susan over the years on several projects, including those that involve portrait photography for C-suite executives. We—and our clients—have never been disappointed.
The Founder’s Society of the North Shore-LIJ Health System Foundation wanted a direct appeal that invited current and potential donors to recommit to and hopefully increase their annual giving to the prestigious health system. Lazzaro Designs was asked to create an actual invitation that served to also outline a new list of membership benefit levels. We created an elegant invitation, along with all the collateral materials (response device, envelopes and cover letters), that prettily conveyed the key messages with clarity and grace.
> If you need help creating a direct appeal, give Lazzaro Designs a call or shoot us an email.
We are big fans of the e-blast! This marketing email is delivered to a large list of subscribers using software such as iContact or MailChimp (to mention just two of many options). The service is typically free or low-cost and is very easy to navigate and manage. Using engaging copy and eye-catching images, Lazzaro Designs has sent out monthly e-blasts (such as the one shown here, top) to highlight a service or a particular characteristic of our work.
A hybrid of a postcard and an advertisement, the e-blast is a cost-effective way to keep your name in front of clients and potential clients, as well as provide easy hyperlinks to drive traffic to your website and your blog. Lazzaro Designs has helped several clients create their own effective e-blast campaigns, as was the case for Consulting For A Cause (see bottom image).
> If you need help creating an e-blast, give Lazzaro Designs a call or shoot us an email.
