Seeds of Change Celebrates 20 Years
Organic seed catalog Seeds of Change celebrates its 20 year anniversary in a 2009 book featuring a cover photo of a woman collecting flowers in a basket. Inside, a thank you letter titled ?Onward Towards A Truly Sustainable Agriculture? highlights Seeds? mission ?to conserve biodiversity? with the help of dedicated family farmers who integrate seed production into their normal operations. The mailing is divided into sections which include Live Plants ($10 - $54.05), Herbs ($3.29 - $3.99), Gourmet Greens (3.29 - $39), and Cover Crops ($2.29 - $47) among others. Tools and supplies like the Collapsible Dome ($535) a spacious collapsible greenhouse, the Edging Iron ($48), and Recycled Rain Barrels ($95) are also included. Products that mark the occasion are featured on the back cover including the 20th Anniversary Tote Bag ($20) and Cap ($20) made from organic cotton. As part of a ?commitment to sustainability? Seeds of Change has partnered with CarbonFund.org to make their operations ?carbon neutral.? Seeds of Change also saved a collection of resources (trees, water, energy, solid waste, greenhouse gases) by using New Leaf CyclusPrint ? a 100% de-inked fiber that?s processed without chlorine. Orders can be made by mail, online, or by phone.

Food for the Poor Inserts Plea
An alarming image accompanies the statement ?No Child Should Live in a Chicken Coop,? on a fundraising insert from Food for the Poor, a Christian nonprofit helping impoverished people in the Caribbean and Central America. The piece, which features a dramatic photograph of a girl peering out of a cage, was blown into an issue of weekly religious newspaper National Catholic Register. Inside the two-panel envelope promotion, red text asks the recipient to ?Please, Help Provide Basic Housing for Poor Families.? Copy below tells the story of Inbranie, a Guyanese mother who supported her two daughters by raising chickens. The family was forced to move into a chicken coop for shelter after a fire destroyed their home. The bottom panel features the reply form, which requests donations along an ask ladder of $75/$160/$2,600/other. It explains that $2,600 will build an entire house for a poor family and also offers the option to pledge $174 a month for 15 months. Ask ladders vary widely on previous direct mail, insert, and email appeals (starting at amounts as low as $6 and going up as high as $8,750) and have not typically included a monthly giving request.

Vogue Knitting Offers Free Pattern
Vogue Knitting recently mailed a subscription offer with a hat pattern freemium. A publication of SoHo Publishing, Vogue Knitting is a 25-year old magazine dedicated to fashion and knitting. The pink package features the image of a model wearing a pair of plush knitted mittens. A teaser alerts recipients to the free pattern inside, along with discounts of almost 50%. Inside, a letter from the editor refers to knitting as ?the new yoga,? spotting it as the newest trend to hit the fashion-savvy. An 11? x 8½? fold-out faux-magazine is included, showing brilliantly colored images of fashion models wearing examples of knitting projects offered in the magazine. The back lists some of the magazine features, including patterns for original designs from top fashion favorites such as Michael Kors, and Adrienne Vittadini, as well as knitting legends Nicky Epstein, Kaffe Fassett, and Debbie Bliss. In-depth articles and step-by-step stitch workshops are offered from knowledgeable knitters, covering things such as binding off buttonholes to couture finishing techniques and advanced stitchwork. The enclosed free pattern offers complete instructions for a ribbed cap. The reply form presents a hard subscription offer of $14.97 for four issues. Subscribers also receive 20% off merchandise from the website, and preferred status for Vogue Knitting?s annual knitting tours.

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