Easy to Give, Hard to Wrap
Looking for the ideal holiday gift for that special someone?
How about Opie, the Holstein steer? He’s touted as a 1,500-pound “party animal” that animal lovers can either adopt and bring home or sponsor financially.
Through an aggressive new direct mail campaign to boost its membership, Farm Sanctuary hopes to place 30 cows with adoptive families this year while finding financial sponsors for hundreds of other animals. The Watkins Glen, NY nonprofit works to protect abused and neglected farm animals.
In search of prospects for its Adopt-a-Cow project, which began last year (DIRECT, December 1997), the group tapped animal-rights organization files like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Fun for Animals. A national 1-million-piece mailing hit mailboxes four times this year, resulting in a 1.5% response and an average gift of $18.
Cows like Opie can be sponsored for $15 a year. A $60 fee will bring him home.
“Most people are sponsoring one or two cows,” says Catherine Connolly, a San Francisco direct mail fundraising consultant who coordinates Farm Sanctuary’s acquisition campaigns.
The sponsor adoption fulfillment package includes a color photo of the cow, a personalized adoption certificate, a wallet-size adoption card and a brief biography of the bovine.
New member data is added to the existing 70,000-member database, which is mined for future mailings. In 1997, the organization reported $1.2 million in member contributions.
And if a cow isn’t quite right, try a chicken or a turkey.
Last year, 20,000 people participated in the Adopt-a-Turkey project targeted to members in the fall newsletter, with 25% taking a turkey home.
But instead of eating the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, the newly adopted birds are traditionally greeted with a holiday meal of their own, including pumpkin pie, stuffed squash, and the reported favorite, cranberry salad.
“It’s a way to educate and reach people on these issues in a fun way,” says Lorri Bauston, who co-founded Farm Sanctuary with her husband Gene.
But for Bauston, the fun is only a side dish to the issue of farm animal cruelty.
The organization focuses on research, investigations and rescue efforts. It provides shelter for animals at its farms in Orland, CA and Watkins Glen and offers education and outreach programs. The group is also active in changing and promoting legislation to protect farm animals and takes action against those who break these laws.-PO
