Cheerfully colorful folders reflect organizations altruism and compassion for animals.
BY FOLDERPRINTERS WRITERS
May 14, 2024
Covers of Humane Pennsylvania's 6x9 folders set against the backdrop of one of their campuses.
FOLDERPRINTERS WRITERS: Please describe your company and its services or specialty.
MAGGIE MCDEVITT: Humane Pennsylvania helps animals by empowering people to be the best caretakers possible. With pet adoption services, affordable vet care and boarding, and community support programs, Humane PA is building the best community anywhere to be an animal – or animal caretaker.FPW: What makes you stand out or differentiates you from your competition (if you have any)?
MM: We believe in providing affordable and accessible resources within our communities to keep pets at home with their caretakers who love them. Everything we do is FOR the animals, NOT for profit.FPW: Are folders in any way a part of it?
MM: Yes, the folders we order are widespread across every department within our organization. We send clients home with a folder of important paperwork and informational materials following an adoption, a vet appointment, a pay-what-you-can visit, a walk-in clinic visit, an affordable spay/neuter clinic visit, etc.
"This [folders] are a direct communication tool between the organization and our clients."
— Maggie McDevitt
FPW: Who are your main customers?
MM: We provide opportunities for people interested in adopting and those needing to use our pet surrender services. We provide services to veterinary clients through our accredited vet hospital, pay-what-you-can clinics, and Walk-In Clinics. We operate a pet food pantry, and offer community support services for free roaming cats and emergency PetNet.FPW: What purpose do your folders generally serve? Is it for marketing or selling? If so, What problems or challenges in marketing, selling do the folders solve for you?
MM: The folders are used more as a marketing tool. We hand the folders out to clients after they use one of our services, and we included a little blurb about visiting our website for a full list of programs and services on the inside of the folder. So, for example, if a client makes use of our Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic, we will send their pet’s vaccination and microchip records home in a folder. The folder blurb encourages them to make use of our other services like receiving pet food from Spike’s Pet Food Pantry or scheduling an appointment at our Affordable Spay/Neuter Clinic. The folder is the first step in that trickle-down process.FPW: Has there been a particular instance (or instances) wherein folders helped in any of your goals? If so please share any anecdotes.
MM: These folders assist in our goals of ensuring our branding is well represented across all departments throughout our organization. One of our key marketing goals is to always keep our branding at the forefront of everything, especially marketing pieces we pass along to the public, and these folders do exactly that.FPW: Is it just for administrative purposes?
MM: We use them internally for administrative purposes as well as for presentation to the public.FPW: When do you hand them out?
MM: Folders go home with clients after completed adoptions, vet appointments, pay-what-you-can clinic visits, walk-in clinic visits, and more. We also use them in our donor and building campaigns to present information to our top donors in a way that is organized, concise and look amazing.
Humane Pennsylvania's Freedom Center for Animal Saving.
FPW: What items do you put inside the pockets?
MM: Items can range from vaccination records, vet visit summaries, microchip identification records, adoption paperwork, and more.FPW: Have the folders proven to be effective? Do they work?
MM: They serve as an effective tool for creating ease and organization for our clients.FPW: In this digital, internet age, why use analog presentation folders?
MM:Some of the items we send home in the folders are very important, like copies of signed adoption contracts or instructions on post-surgical care. We feel much more comfortable handing the items directly to the client, knowing they won’t get lost amongst other emails or sent to a junk folder. This is a direct communication tool between the organization and our clients.
"Everything we do is FOR the animals, NOT for profit."
— Maggie McDevitt
FPW: Who designs your folders?
MM: Susan Sidoriak, owner of Silverbox Creative Studio.FPW: What was your aesthetic philosophy or aim in coming up with the final design.
MM: We were coming from a very plain, very simple folder design that just included our logo and some branded elements. We wanted our new folders to incorporate our branded elements as well as the amazing photos our graphic designer has captured for us. We wanted to have a folder design that was so colorful and pleasing to the eye that it would have the client eager to see what is inside the folder.FPW: Do you know if your competition also employ the same type of folders?
MM: There is a lot of documentation distributed in the animal welfare world. So, we would not be surprised to hear that other animal welfare organizations use some type of presentation folder for similar reasons.FPW: Are these your first professionally printed folders? What made you decide to go with Folderprinters?
MM: We have had folders printed professionally in the past. However, they were folders that held a full 8.5x11 sheet, and we always wanted to explore smaller options. When we discovered Folderprinters and saw the price and turnaround time, it was a no-brainer. As an animal welfare organization, we try to cut expenses anywhere we can, and ordering these full-size, thick folders from a different printer was getting pricier and pricier. Your options made the decision easy AND affordable.FPW: If not, had you been working with a printer, and what made you switch to Folderprinters?
MM: The price was one of our biggest reasons for using Folderprinters. They also offered the exact size we were looking for and we had creative freedom to upload any and all designs we wanted to.FPW: Did you look at other folder sellers’ websites? What made you choose us?
MM: We did look at other sites but decided to go with Folderprinters because of the price and turnaround time. The quality of the product proved that we made the right decision.FPW: What was your experience using the website? Was it easy to use?
MM: The website was extremely user-friendly. Everything was simple to navigate and easy to find.FPW: Did you use our online design tool?
MM: We did not use the online design tool. However, we did use the design upload tool to ensure our file types were appropriate and there were no issues with the files. I communicated with a few representatives throughout the uploading/ordering process to guide me through. They made sure that all bases were covered BEFORE I submitted the order and a method of payment, so there were no unpleasant surprises.FPW: Did you easily find the product you were looking for?
MM:We were always in search of a 6x9 folder, and we found it quickly and efficiently through Folderprinters.FPW: Did the final product meet your expectations?
MM: The final product exceeded our expectations in terms of quality, speed, service, and more.
Humane Pennsylvania Offices.
Our Takeaway
