Lollypop Farm Kindness for All Kind Capital Campaign Appeal
Project Background
As Lollypop Farm expanded its programs and services to meet growing community needs, its existing Fairport shelter no longer supported the scale of care required. To address this, the organization launched the Kindness for All Kind (K4AK) capital campaign in 2021, with a public phase beginning in fall 2025.
This milestone created a critical opportunity to engage key supporters through a highly targeted direct mail effort designed to generate campaign support beyond traditional one-to-one solicitation. The audience included major and mid-level donors, planned giving prospects, prior capital campaign supporters, and high-capacity donors. A portion of the audience was identified through TFS’s audit program, which leverages cluster scoring to identify individuals most likely to upgrade into—and from—mid-level and major giving tiers. This modeling proved to be a strong and accurate predictor of future giving behavior, ensuring outreach was focused on individuals with the highest propensity to increase engagement.
The Solution
TFS partnered with Lollypop Farm to develop a premium, highly personalized direct mail package designed to elevate the donor experience and drive larger commitments.
The package was intentionally structured to mirror a personal proposal typically delivered by a gift officer, elevating it beyond a traditional direct mail appeal. Each component was hyper-personalized to the individual recipient, including tailored messaging, segmented giving opportunities, and customized pledge and naming options aligned with capacity and philanthropic history.
The strategy centered on aligning messaging, design, and ask structure to the significance of a capital campaign. Creative storytelling connected the organization’s 150+ year history to its future vision, using a compelling donor journey that reinforced both urgency and long-term impact.
In addition, the structure of the ask was reimagined. Rather than focusing solely on one-time gifts, the appeal introduced multi-year pledge options. These commitments not only made higher-level giving more accessible but also created more consistent and predictable funding streams, enabling Lollypop Farm to better plan for its future operations and capital priorities.
Results
The campaign generated strong results and expanded the base of campaign supporters. The appeal produced a total of $76,927 from 107 respondents, with an average gift of $719.
Notably, this effort drove the highest number of new campaign donors to date outside of personal solicitation, demonstrating the effectiveness of a strategic, direct mail-driven approach to capital fundraising.
Performance also significantly exceeded internal benchmarks, with revenue surpassing the organization’s fiscal year average by more than 58%.
Beyond revenue, the campaign successfully complemented major gift efforts. The majority of pledge commitments came from donors already in active stewardship, positioning the mailing as a powerful tool to reinforce and close larger gifts within the pipeline.
Conclusion
By combining elevated creative, advanced audience modeling through cluster-based audit scoring, highly personalized proposal-style execution, and innovative ask structures, this campaign demonstrated how direct mail can play a meaningful role in capital fundraising.
The result was not only increased revenue, but a broader and more engaged base of campaign supporters—helping position Lollypop Farm for continued success as it advances its vision for the future.