2011 Gold Awards for FundRaising Excellence Winners Announced

Sept. 6, 2011 - (Philadelphia) — FundRaising Success magazine, the country's leading publication focused on all things fundraising, is pleased to announce the winners of its 2011 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence.

Top prize this year went to the World Vision Back to School Bounceback "Flight" package, which won Package of the Year and the Gold Award in the Direct Mail category.

"What can we say? Some packages just take off, making response rates soar and flying higher than even their creators could imagine. In most cases, those sky-high accolades are just metaphorical," the judges wrote. "Not so with our 2011 Package of the Year. This sustainer/upgrade effort from Russ Reid on behalf of World Vision U.S. is engaging, colorful and just plain fun."

The goal of the package, mailed as a back-to-school effort, is to inspire donors to give more and engage with their sponsored children to encourage them to get excited about learning. Gold Awards judge Paul Bobnak called the package "well-executed from start to finish." He added, "This mailing is powerful because it inspires both child and donor."

See the complete list of winners here, and click here to read more on the top award-winners.

Judging the awards this year were FundRaising Success Senior Editor Joe Boland; Paul Bobnak, director of the Who's Mailing What Archive; and Dane Grams, senior director of development at GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

Judging took place Aug. 19 at the FundRaising Success offices in Philadelphia. More than 125 entries were received — breaking the record for entries since the Gold Awards began in 2005. Awards were given in seven categories: Package of the Year, Direct Mail, E-mail, Telefundraising, Special Events, Multichannel and On the Edge (plus Grand Control of the Year, which is chosen from the Who's Mailing What Archive).

"Judging day for the Gold Awards is always a lot of hard work and a lot of fun," FundRaising Success Editor-in-Chief Margaret Battistelli Gardner said. "It's the culmination of months of watching these incredible packages make their way to my desk and wishing we could name them all winners because, in fact, they are. They represent the most successful, creative and thoughtful efforts of the fundraising sector in the previous year.

"The money and awareness raised by these entries — whether they garnered an award or not — is breathtaking," she added. "In addition to honoring the best of the best with the Gold Awards, we also hope to shine a light on groundbreaking efforts so that other organizations can see what's out there, what's working and how."

In the introduction to the announcement of the winners, Gold Award Judge Dane Grams wrote, "The work we saw was phenomenal. You impressed us with brilliant creative (a paper airplane, pet-personalized ornaments). You wowed us with bold risks that paid off (mailing a single sock in an acquisition package — really? Really!). You inspired us with new and innovative multichannel approaches (think "Ghostbusters" and the New York Public Library). You moved us with nothing more than a plain envelope and the simplicity of a powerful story. You made us chuckle, you made our brows furrow and you even made us cry. But it was the results — the results were what was so impressive.

"It was so great to see even as we remain in a state of economic uncertainty that we haven't lost our creative edge or our will to succeed," he added. "We are doing good work. Our fundraising campaigns are helping vital organizations establish identities, build strong brands, and inspire millions of individuals to support meaningful causes with both their voices and their dollars."

For information on the 2011 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence, contact Margaret Battistelli Gardner at mbattistelli@napco.com