Wesleyan University
Ink&Pixel was called on by Wesleyan’s Office of Alumni and Parent Relations for additional support on an ongoing two-year capital campaign that wasn’t yet nearing its funding goal of $250 million. The drive of our messaging was two-fold: communicate the success of the campaign so far, but also soft-sell the need for additional giving. Adding to our challenge was the fact that their audience had already been communicated to regarding this campaign, so we needed to be mindful of past efforts and make sure the new marketing piece flowed naturally from the last.
Our solution was to break out this leg of the campaign into a direct mail series and create “An Eight-Point Case for Your Support.” Each of the eight oversized postcards landed in mailboxes the first of every month for the academic school year — so the timing wasn’t repetitive nor a nuisance, but rather meaningful and engaging.
The production of the series was broken into two separate press runs, which still gave the client economy of scale but also enabled us to keep the content detailed and timely. Our decision to print the cards on Mohawk Tomohawk in Marigold was as strategic as it was aesthetic. The tonal qualities of the color and photography along with the dramatic texture of the sheet, combined to make the cards tactile and stand out from the clutter of a busy mailbox.
The result of this collaboration with Wesleyan was a series that was so well received and effective that they had us design a follow-up thank you card announcing the campaign’s achievement of hitting the $225 million mark.
