Skip to content
Case Study

National Trust

Delivering time-critical, personalised fundraising communications to secure donations

Our Client

National Trust

What We Did

Personalised Direct Mail (Print on Point) 

Release Date

September 2018

Authors

Chris Arthur

£1Million

In donations received in a 3 week window

700,000m²

Iconic land secured thanks to donation

Brief to donations

From brief to final donation in just 3 weeks

Charity & Conservation

Protecting a national landmark through personalised direct mail

Faced with a £1 million fundraising target and a three-week deadline, the National Trust partnered with Precision Proco to create, print and deliver a targeted direct mail appeal. The campaign became one of the charity's most successful fundraising initiatives, enabling the acquisition and protection of land behind the White Cliffs of Dover.
National_trust_800_2
National-Trust-LogoS
The client

The National Trust is a UK-based charity established in 1895 with a mission to preserve and protect historic building, gardens, and other places of natural beauty for the public to enjoy. Over the years, the Trust has acquired vast tracts of land and historic properties across the country, and it relies on donations, membership fees, and commercial operations such as holiday cottages and tea rooms to maintain and manage these assets.

The problem

Raising £1Million in just three weeks

The National Trust team briefed Precision Proco on a new campaign:

The National Trust needed to secure a large amount of land to protect an important landscape for future generations.
They needed to achieve a target donation of £1Million in just three weeks. 
They required a campaign that would generate an immediate response from their audience.
The personalised direct mail campaign had to be designed and deployed quickly, ensuring it:
- Hit home with the key messages
- Had an easy mechanism to respond - both on and offline
- Required attention to detail with the data and personalised needed.
The Solution

Personalised direct mail designed to drive action

Precision Proco worked with the National Trust to deliver a personalised direct mail campaign that communicated the fundraising appeal clearly and encouraged donations with the three-week window.

01

The campaign combined creative communication with Precision Proco's expertise in personalised print, data management and direct mail production. 

02

Particular attention was given to campaign data accuracy and personalisation in each piece, ensuring communications were relevant to recipients while maintaining the speed required by the campaign. 

03

The mailing also included accessible response mechanisms for both online and offline donations, giving recipients a straightforward way to take action.

This helped the National Trust turn a highly time-sensitive fundraising appeal into a campaign that reached supporters quickly and effectively. 

Elevate your direct mail marketing

White Cliffs Appeal NationalTrust_Dover1
Results & Impact

Target donations reached within initial timeframe

The campaign has been cited as one of the Trust's most successful in recent years regarding the value of donations raised in such a short period. The National Trust was overwhelmed by the support and generosity of the public.

    Secured £1million of donations in a 3 week window
    Donations secured 700,000m2 of iconic land
With just three weeks to raise £1million, the National Trust needed an efficient, personalised campaign, and Precision Proco delivered.

  • Thanks for everything you and the team have done - we couldn’t have achieved this mailing without your support throughout.
    Louise Ashley-Cox
    Senior, Marketing Campaign Executive.

See more of our past work