BY PREETI VASISHTHA
When David Reid took over as director of Resource Development for Mental Retardation Services in 1994, he aimed to unify the organization's three facilities, which had been working independently, and send a common message to the community through a single newsletter.
The facilities--Cardinal Krol Center, Don Guanella and the Divine Providence villages--produced their own promotions and publications in house. The materials were geared mainly toward facility staff and clients' families. The facilities were "coming out with very rudimentary in-house publications, more like photocopied newsletters that were type-written and mailed to a local audience," Reid says.
That's when Reid decided to reassess the organization's printing needs and devise a plan to reach the audience in a more professional, effective way. "Instead of portraying a separate identity for the three facilities, we wanted to create a divisional identity that would portray a unified image of what we do and who we are," he says.
In June 1997, the facilities parted with the outdated newsletters and launched a 6-page, 3-color, quarterly newsletter and remittance envelopes. "The newsletter was a professional attempt to reach out to a community constituency," Reid says. "The main advantage we had was that we could enhance and reinforce campaigning to create a divisional identity."
With the help of McNitt Marketing, a Lansdowne, Pa.-based marketing firm, Mental Retardation Services chose Shipman Print Solutions, a manufacturer in Niagara Falls, N.Y., to print the newsletter and envelopes.
If the newsletter's mailing list is an accurate measure of success, the plan worked. Circulation skyrocketed from 1,200 to 5,200. But so did the cost of producing the high-quality newsletter. The newsletter looked impressive, Reid says, but "if each of the facilities had done the printing upgrade independently, it would have been very costly."
To raise money for the increased expense, Don Guanella and Divine Providence villages began selling Christmas cards two years ago. The two facilities designed the cards in house and held a contest to pick the best designs. Out of 64 original drawings submitted by people living in the facilities, judges chose four designs--a gingerbread man, a Christmas collage, a Santa Claus and a Christmas tree. CRW Graphics, a Pennsauken, N.J.-based manufacturer, printed approximately 10,000 cards. The two facilities folded the 4-color, 5 x 7-inch cards, sorted them by design, collated them with mailing envelopes, and shrink-wrapped them into packets of 12 cards. Parent associations sold the packets in the villages. To promote the cards, the organization also inserted fliers in the newsletter. The organization bought greeting card envelopes, card order forms and package inserts from Shipman Print Solutions, which also donated booklet envelopes to mail the cards.
Recently, Mental Retardation Services held a silent auction to raise more funds. CRW Graphics printed brochures for the auction, which was a "huge success," Reid says. Last year, the organization also mailed post cards, printed by manufacturer Alcom Printing, Harleysville, Pa., to Mental Retardation Services' mailing list to promote its ties to the United Way.
Because Mental Retardation Services is non-profit, it's "very cost-conscious," Reid says. "We want to make sure there is a return" on the investment. But like any organization, the non-profit's printing needs are pressing. "Basically, when you look at us from the business point of view, I don't think we are the top client," he says. "There are definite cost constraints, and we don't have an unlimited public relations budget. But there's a good hand in hand for the printing industry to work with us."
The non-profit market is ripe for distributors, especially ones offering promotional products. Distributors can partner with marketing companies to manage their clients' public relations and coordinate special events such as golf outings, silent auctions and open houses. Non-profits also use letterhead, envelopes, business cards, forms, booklets, brochures, newsletters and annual reports.
Preeti Vasishtha is assistant editor of Print Solutions. Email her your comments at pvasishtha@PSDA.org.
