Rub Out Cancer
The Rub Out Cancer pack has remained the unbeaten control pack (with some variations) for monthly giving to Cancer Council NSW since the early 2000s.
This pack has been included in the 'Million Dollar Mailings' section not just because it has raised many millions of dollars, but also because it has proved to be so successful and resilient over many years.
Some of its strengths include:
- Includes a strong concept that incorporates a clear call to action (Rub Out Cancer)
- Simplifies and minimises the ask by describing it as ‘about the price of an apple a day’ or ’49 cents a day’
- Explains the benefits to the donor in great detail
- Draws attention to key points using hand-drawn underlining and asterisks
- Uses the very popular personalised labels as a front-end premium (it was also tested without labels, but was not as successful)
- Further rewards donors with a good quality tailor-made key tag as a back end premium (the intention here was to give them something that they would use every day, and constantly remind them of their generosity)
- Recognises their monthly gift by giving them membership of ‘Breakthrough’ (thereby appealing to the desire to be part of something bigger than themselves
- Provides a clear and specific example of the kind of research being done that shows how their monthly gift will be used
- Tells them exactly how to join - bank deduction, credit card etc, so that it’s absolutely clear
- Reassures the donor by being completely upfront about how much (or little) of their monthly gift will be used on administration.