Main Subject - Business

Writing a terrific fundraising letter is a waste of time if your donor throws your entire package in the trash unopened. And that happens more often than any of us dare to think about. That's why your envelope is so crucial to your success.

Y

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

our envelope serves two functions and two alone. It must:

deliver your appeal to your donor
persuade your donor to open and read your package

Getting your appeal into the hands of your donor is not hard if you mai

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

to a good list, either your own house list or a rented list of quality prospects. But persuading your donors to actually open your envelope and read your appeal—and respond to it with a gift—that's the difficult part.

Your envelope faces a n

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

mber of challenges.

Your donors are busy

Like you, your donors are busy. They are preoccupied with meeting their sales quotas, finding a good paediatrician, fixing the leak in the roof, spoiling their grandkids, finishing college with a

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

n A average, buying a more reliable vehicle, meeting their deadline, meeting their life partner, and making ends meet. In the middle of their busy life, your fundraising appeal drops through the mailbox. Should they open it, lay it aside for

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

later, or chuck it? Your envelope will likely decide which.

Competition from other charities

If your donors are typical, they receive solicitations from other non-profit organizations each week. Your envelope will likely be one among ma

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

y. How will you stand out? How will you persuade your donor or prospective donor (or former donor) to open your envelope first—if at all? Your envelope is your first chance, maybe your only chance.

Competition from other mail

Your pac

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

kage is also competing with electricity bills, bank statements, pizza flyers, credit card statements, personal letters, credit card offers and junk mail. Your reader will open these pieces of mail in a particular order, starting with the most

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

ressing. The size, shape, weight and look of your envelope will determine if it gets opened or not.

Competition from other media

You are also competing with door-to-door fundraisers. And telephone canvassers. And telethons (television

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

fundraisers). Not to mention the evening news, sitcoms, today's newspaper, CNN.com and a literal host of radio shows and satellite TV channels. How can you get your fundraising appeal letter package to break through this noise and reach your

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

donor? You need to start with your envelope.

The benefits of getting your appeal letters opened and read are tremendous:

you will likely immediately boost your response rate, since more donors will read your appeal and respo

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

nd with a gift, all other things being equal

you will increase your gift income, since higher response rates mean more gifts

you will reduce your cost to raise a gift, because the increase in revenue will offset your mailing

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

osts

you will improve your renewal rates, since more of your first-time donors will open, read and respond to your subsequent appeals

you will reduce your attrition rates, because you will keep more donors engaged and interes

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

ed in your cause

None of these benefits will be yours unless your donors open your envelopes. That's where the battle for your donor's head and heart begins. Don't lose the battle there. Create envelopes that are simply irresist

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

ible. Here are some tips.

Oversize Window

If you are mailing a premium, have it appear through an oversize window.

Unusual or Unexpected Dimensions

Switch from a #10 window to something larger or smaller.

Unique Addressing
t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

Address the letter by hand.

Use Every Inch Available

Put a dramatic photo on your envelope that stretches from one side right across to the other.

Tease the Donor Inside

Ask a question or pose a riddle that is answered inside
ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

Multiple Windows

Put another window on the envelope and have something interesting show through from the inside.

Don't Use an Envelope

Mail your letter in a box, a cylinder or something else that stands out.

Postage

U
y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
se a commemorative stamp.

Lumpy Mail

Put something three-dimensional, like a wrist band, in the envelope.

Put the Donor on the Envelope

Put a message to the donor on the front or back, using their first name.

Add a Personal
.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de
ouch

Hand-write a note.

The possibilities for creative and compelling envelopes are limited only by your imagination (and your budget, of course!). Strive to create the most irresistible envelopes you can, with every package you mail, and
elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip
you will be rewarded with higher response rates and higher income.

© 2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the Author" message)

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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Main Subject - Boost Response Rates and Income with Appealing Fundraising Letter Envelopes

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