Embrace the Middle East
Transitioning from limited donor acknowledgments to thanking every supporter
Embrace the Middle East is a Christian charity that supports marginalised and vulnerable communities across the Middle East. As donations grew, a small team had to manually print, fold, frank and post around 1,500 pieces of supporter correspondence every month, which meant they could only thank higher value donors. By moving to Postworks Embrace now thanks every supporter quickly, works largely from home and spends more time on meaningful donor relationships.
The Challenge
Manual post processes limited the charity’s ability to thank donors
Embrace’s supporter team knew every gift mattered, but thanking everyone was becoming unmanageable. Around 1,500 letters a month had to be printed, folded, stuffed and franked by a five person team, with up to 90 minutes a day spent just printing thank you letters before the franking even started.
The workload forced an uncomfortable compromise. Only donors over a certain threshold received a physical thank you, even though the team disliked the idea. When lockdown hit and no one could get into the office, some supporters did not know if their gifts had arrived at all. Not saying thank you stopped being a difficult choice and became a real problem.
A closer look at the results
1,500 monthly thank you letters
By eliminating mailing costs for business growth.
90 minutes daily admin reclaimed
Trading printing and franking for high-value supporter care.
One weekly office visit
With tracked delivery options and improved cash flow.
The Turning Point
Adopting a digital post system during lockdown
Embrace had previously explored an outsourced mail option, but it required a complete overhaul of internal systems, so they parked the idea. When lockdown cut off access to printers and franking, they had to revisit digital post, this time with a clear requirement: keep existing systems and make saying thank you easier, not harder.
Postworks listened, understood the constraints and proposed a straightforward setup that felt like a genuine relief.
Account setup took around 15 minutes, followed by a short training session that had the team posting the same day. Using PostboxCloud, staff upload thank you letters from their browsers in a few clicks, choose from templates, recall mistakes before printing and even see which mail Royal Mail could not deliver. With special charity pricing, the solution reduced cost as well as effort, so Embrace could redirect money back into front line work.
“Postworks have streamlined our processes, simplified things we didn’t know could be simpler, and broadened our horizons. They’re high on our thank you list!”
Joanna TaylorSupporter Experience Manager, Embrace the Middle East
The Outcome
Improved efficiency and strengthened donor relationships
With Postworks, Embrace thanks every donor promptly, frees staff time for supporter care, works remotely with ease, and redirects savings toward vital frontline projects.
Key Results
🫂Every supporter gets a thank you.
There is no longer a threshold for gratitude, so all gifts receive timely written acknowledgment.
⏰Time freed for real conversations
Freed from piles of printing and franking, staff can check in with supporters more personally.
💻Remote ready, charity friendly operations
PostboxCloud lets the team manage post from home, visiting the office weekly rather than daily.
💷More resource for front line work
Special charity pricing and lower postal overheads release more budget for projects in the Middle East.
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