And the Winners Are …

What else did the judges like? Pretty much everything.

"This package is direct-mail fundraising at its best," Gold Awards judge Joe Boland remarks. "It uses the best practices of personalization on everything from the letter to the insert to the reply device, basing the ask on giving history and offering the chance to increase donations. More importantly, the copy is a picture-perfect example of how fundraising letters should read. Throughout, the letter stresses how you, the donor, are needed, what your money will do, how MDA needs to rely on you. And it tugs on the emotional heartstrings with the story of Abbey — another best practice.