The YWCA is a superb charity which helps vulnerable and disadvantaged young women across the UK. like every charity, it relies on its supporters and the general public to provide it with the income to change lives.
The YWCA had heard of our success in the charity sector and approached us with an ambitious fundraising project to attract and retain more regular committed donors. Our response was to create a strong direct mail shot which engaged the reader, explained the activities of the charity through interesting copy and, most importantly, made people repond by reaching for their wallets or credit cards.
Using the YWCA's existing database, we identified additional databases with identical profiles and created a costed and achiveable business plan. Some of our creative team spent some time with YWCA staff and volunteers gaining an in-depth understanding of the charity. As a result of this research we devised our mail shot to tell the true story of one real person the YWCA had helped. Although the person concerned was happy to be named and photographed, we decided to call her Rachel and to preserve her anonymity.
'Rachel' had held a happy life until her grandma died, her mother left home and her dad got a new partner who didnt like her. Her father brought her home early from a family holiday and abandoned her. She fled to a new city, lived rough, got pregnant, and had to resort to prostitution to support herself and her future baby. her life reached its nadir when she phoned social services, told them to take the baby, and added that she had just downed a bottle full of pills. The hospital saved her but couldn't save her child.
A friend told her of the YWCA. With their help she got off drugs and onto her own two feet. Today, she is gaining qualifications in social care, determined to help others on behalf of the YWCA
