With this edition of the Alliance Report, we continue to recognize members supporting the Postal Museum and their latest online exhibit, “America’s Mailing Industry”. This week, we would like to recognize Easterseals, and how direct mail has played a vital role in their mission to bring support, resources, and comfort to children with disabilities and their families.

For nearly 100 years, Easterseals has been the indispensable resource for people and families challenged by disabilities, touching millions of lives through its programs, services and community involvement.  From its humble beginnings, the organization has transformed through the years expanding its reach to 74 affiliates nationwide with hundreds of programs and services unique to each community’s needs. Today, we are changing the way the world defines and views disabilities by making profound, positive differences in peoples’ lives every day.

Easterseals’ robust mail program, one of the organization’s largest funding sources, has evolved over the years, too. The program’s impact has been massive. Easterseals was one of the pioneers in the use of mail as a main source of communication to really grow, build and market the organization… In the 1930s, Easterseals embarked on a new means of fundraising:  an annual sale of seals, small decorative stamps.   What started off as a new approach to fundraising turned into a juggernaut of a campaign that has profoundly impacted the way the world viewedeople with disabilities. The seals were sold around Easter time as a way to represent rebirth, new growth and renewed life.

Over the years, the Easterseals mail program has changed and gradually adapted to evolving donor expectations and trends. At the start of the mail program, all Easterseals affiliates managed the program at the local level; then in the 1980s, the national headquarters centralized the program for consistency and economies of scale, allowing for more funds to go back to supporting programs for people with disabilities. Donation processing was once all done by hand and manually entered in a database which could take months. Today, mail is processed within 24 hours and the database updates within 48 hours.

The success of the seal campaign through the mail was revolutionary. In addition to raising funds, the seals also raised awareness of the issues facing people with disabilities, as well as the kinds of supports available to them. In the years following the first seal appeal, and continuing since then, increasing numbers of people have sought help for their disabilities through Easterseals.

Easterseals annual “Seal Appeal” and other direct mail and integrated marketing campaigns continue to be a major fundraising source. Much like when the campaign first ran, the funds raised are necessary for Easterseals to continue to grow and help so many families. Through its inception, the iconic direct mail program has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to support the organization’s mission.

To read more about the history of Easterseals, click here to read their story on America’s Mailing Industry.