We decided to make a positive case study the heart of this mailing. Instead of presenting tragedy as a fundraising prompt we used the inspirational story of a real boy. This compelling story demanded an innovative way of telling it. We also drew upon research that reveals many Save the Children donors support the charity as a way of helping their own children or grandchildren learn about 'less fortunate youngsters overseas'.

The picture book about Dennis was a fitting solution and also demonstrated how Save the Children’s commitment to involving young people in their work can have amazing benefits.

This pack raised £430,000. The average cash donation level beat targets by 20% - and in the high-value donor cell reached an average gift of £892.

The total amount of annual committed gifts generated by the pack was £40,000 with a ROI of 5.45:1 by year four.

Nearly 6,500 extra copies of the book were requested, both by other parts of Save the Children including the education, legacy and volunteer support units and by individuals and groups outside the charity, including libraries.