NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- XMPie(R), www.xmpie.com, the award-winning provider of software for dynamic publishing has driven the success of an innovative fundraising campaign conducted by One to One Gulfcoast, a direct marketing firm specializing in the non-profit market. Working for The Out-of-Door Academy, a private school in Sarasota, Florida, One to One's campaign raised $345,452 during the school year, substantially surpassing its goal of $241,000 in only three months. In addition, The Out-of-Door Academy attained a record-setting 82% participation rate from school parents and an unprecedented 100% participation by board, faculty and staff.
One to One used XMPie's uDirect Professional software for variable data printing (VDP) to develop a fully personalized integrated marketing campaign that consisted of letters, post cards and phone-a-thons. The signature piece was a letter distributed to every child's family at the school. In order to deliver the most powerful message, One to One collected vision statements from more than 90 faculty and staff members and used them as variable text so that each letter contained a quote from each child's teacher. The letters also incorporated more complex logic so that families with more than one child attending the school received a single letter with quotes from each child's teacher. Other rules were written for families with twins (there were 11 sets in the school). They received a letter with two different quotes even though both children were in the same grade. The children were also addressed by their familiar names for an added personal touch.
In addition to the mailers, One to One introduced fundraising phone-a-thon postcards designed to alert potential donors when to expect calls, including an option to be placed on the "do not call" list. In fact, the development office raised $11,000 from parents who initially called to be removed from the contact list.
One year after the VDP project commenced, every parent volunteer re-opted to participate in the fundraising campaign, and one faculty member from every grade level also made a commitment. They collected more than $500 in average gifts.
"Parents want the collateral to be as personalized as the education that the school offers," said Brian Weiner, President of One to One Gulfcoast. "When we treat each recipient as an individual and speak to them in a way that shows that the teacher knows their child, parents are more willing to make the financial contribution to continue that kind of superior treatment. XMPie software allows you to create this dynamic within a printed piece. The capabilities are endless."
About XMPie
XMPie Inc. is the leading provider of software for dynamic publishing. Its variable data publishing (VDP) solutions PersonalEffect and uDirect help businesses efficiently design and produce highly personalized marketing materials that are proven to significantly increase consumer response rates. Its award-winning PersonalEffect software produces on-demand, highly targeted 1:1 marketing communications in print, e-mail and Web. XMPie bridges design, data and printing functions to enable a collaborative production workflow and streamlines document ordering and customization with flexible Web-to-Print applications. XMPie is headquartered in New York with operations in the US, Europe and Israel. For more information on XMPie, visit www.xmpie.com.