Ideas I'd like to swipe.

Well, of course I mean "adapt!"

Direct mail fund-raising is an idea medium, more than ever today, with 5-10 other appeals arriving on the same day yours does. If a good idea isn't driving your appeal, it's in trouble.

Drama, that's the key. We are all looking for ways to dramatize our appeals, for ways to get donors and prospects to feel the human needs at the other end of the pipeline of assistance.

We search our brains, books, magazines and newspapers, television programs and - dare I admit it? Yes, I do! - even other people's fund-raising packages.

Which brings me to my "swipe" file. For fifteen years I've been squirreling away neat ideas and fresh approaches other people have used. Some I've already borrowed (swiped - adapted) myself, others are still waiting for their - second - day in the Court of Public Response. I'd like to share them with you.

Idea #1

It's a small card, perhaps an inch and a half high by three inches long, printed in one color on two sides.

One side says: "Christmas, 19XX.

Dear Little Friend in Korea: This Christmas gift package is an expression of my personal concern and affection. I do hope you have a very warm, bright, and merry Christmas. I love you!"

There is a space for a signature. The reverse side has what I imagine is the message in Korean.

This was an enclosure that was part of a package mailed on behalf of an overseas mission involving orphan children, in Korea.

What's so good about this little card? By itself, you wouldn't look at it twice. But I think it's a good idea because it strengthens a crucial point in the mailing: the donor contributes to help the children, not the agency. Anything that reinforces that idea, promotes communication between donor and child, humanizes a package, and above all, builds on the sympathy and desire to protect a child the donor feels instinctively is good.

I'd follow up on this idea by finding ways for donors to communicate via Christmas cards and other holiday cards. If I could think of a way to have the children communicate with the donors directly (without presenting them as objects of pity), I'd do that, too. For example: I'd produce a newsletter filled with stories of progress the kids were making.

Of course, I'd try to promote sustained interest from particular donors in particular children. The Christian Children's Fund, Save The Children, and other agencies are based on the idea of involving a donor intensely in the life of a particular child.