Obama for America « ABD Direct

In 2007-2008, we were chosen to manage the direct mail campaign and raise a record amount of money in the mail for then Senator Barack Obama. In 2011-12, we were asked to do it all again for President Barack Obama and we are especially proud of our work which shattered all previous direct mail fundraising records.

Integrated Experience

Many factors contributed to the record-breaking success of the 2012 Obama for America direct mail fundraising campaign—cutting-edge donor file segmentation strategies, state-of-the-art micro-targeting of potential donors, multi-channel integration moving donors seamlessly from offline to online to offline again and a completely new and different creative strategy.

We believe our ability to break all fundraising records in was due to our work in growing a cadre of hundreds of thousands of Obama for America multi-channel donors. To do so, we discarded the look and feel of low-end traditional direct mail by employing higher-end graphics, four-color inserts and higher-level use of personalization to give the mail a look much more like a multi-faceted, interactive website.

In addition, there was no attempt made to keep donations locked into predetermined fundraising channels. In fact, quite the opposite was true. We highlighted and aggressively pushed direct mail donors to use multiple channels – including dedicated URL’s, special 800 numbers for donors to call and mail-in donor forms on BarackObama.com to encourage those with reservations about online giving to contribute through the mail.

“I have a deep conviction that we’re greater together than we are on our own. I believe this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share, when everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street, plays by the same rules. And I believe we all prosper when hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded. Those aren’t Democratic values or Republican values. Those aren’t I percent values or 99 percent values. They’re American values. And we have to reclaim them.” – President Barack Obama

Project feature: The Convention Photo Appeal

We are particularly proud of the “Convention Photo” appeal, which came at an interesting time. Sixty days out from Election Day, we had the dual challenge of expressing our appreciation for donor’ past support, while also raising as much money as possible for the final stretch. By September 2012, most Obama for America donors has received scores of fundraising appeals, so we saw this mailing as a crucial moment to both thank them for their generous and ongoing support, and ask them to step forward once more as the election moved to its final and critical days.

This appeal mailed to Obama for America donors immediately after the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The strategy was to combine two central ingredients we believe are critical to direct mailing success. 1) The important of authentic voices – the letter and insert are each written in the distinctive “voice” of the President and First Lady; and 2) The importance of drawing and sustaining a personal connection to donors driven by both language and package technique.

The result was one of the most successful of the record-breaking fundraising campaign.

Obama for America

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Integrated Experience

Project feature: The Convention Photo Appeal