An Interview With Emelie Irving, Executive Director, Southeast Texas Food Bank

"Before we began direct-mail fundraising, we did not fundraise. There were several attempts to have an event, but with minimal success," she adds. "We needed real money."

The food bank now has 25,000 donors in its database, and its annual operating budget has grown to $1.9 million. The growth in itself is extraordinary — but even more so when you realize the organization has no fundraising staff and only actively solicits donations through direct mail. A little bit of money comes in online — and there are plans to try to grow that amount — but the only active solicitation it does is through direct mail.