2013 Fundraising Stars

Jan L. Buchanan
Integrated Direct Marketing Manager
International Orthodox Christian Charities

In 2012, a relatively simple change in IOCC’s direct-mail newsletters meant a huge jump in revenue for the organization.

According to Mark Hodde, director of partnerships and public relations at IOCC, early testing of several direct-mail packages indicated that envelopes nested in newsletters or other marketing materials weren’t pulling nearly the same rate of response or average gift amount as appeals mailed in No. 10 envelopes inserted with a reply card and No. 9 BRE. The newsletter was being mailed to a housefile of donors who had given within the last 24 months, yet was drawing few repeat donors.

“Jan changed the newsletter package from an eight-page, two-color piece with an envelope nested in the middle and mailed as a flat to a four-page, full-color piece inserted into a No. 10 envelope with a No. 9 BRE and a personalized reply card with personalized suggested gift amounts based on donor history.

“By changing the package,” he says, “Jan reduced the cost of postage, provided a more user-friendly and attractive format that reduced the amount of paper, and further saved costs. The savings in postage and paper we used to increase the frequency from three times per year to four and go from a two-color format to full color.”

As a result, the first newsletter outperformed the results of the entire previous year’s three newsletters, Hodde says. In 2011, the newsletter mailings grossed $53,282 through 570 gifts with an average gift size of $93.48. The newsletter drew an average of 1.09 gifts per donor.

In 2012, after making the changes to the package, the newsletters grossed $338,487 with an average gift of $113.43 — a 21 percent increase in the size of the average gift. Donors increased the frequency of their giving to an average of 1.25 gifts per donor, and the total number of gifts from the mailings more than quadrupled.

The results, of course, are terrific, but they alone aren’t the reason we’re honoring Jan. We think that her ability to spot a problem, think through a solution and follow through on the that solution makes her a fundraising star and proves that sometimes it’s the simplest thing that can make a huge difference.

Regina Denu
Executive Director
Ozanam Family Shelter Corp.

Everyone knows it’s not easy to get donors to agree to give unrestricted funds to keep the lights on and bulk up endowments to keep organizations afloat during tough times or in case of emergency. So one of the first things we liked about Regina Denu’s nomination was that in her 11-plus years at Ozanam Family Shelter Corp., she has brought the organization “from being in the ‘red’ to having a five-month operating reserve,” writes Kim Hale, case manager at Ozanam.

Regina helped raise more than $200,000 for Ozanam in 2012 and was nominated recently for a Phenomenal Woman Award by the University of Southern Indiana.

But what really touched us was Kim’s comment, “She is an exceptional woman who does not seek recognition for her work but deserves to be recognized for it. She is down to earth and always has time for residents of the shelter and is a great leader to her staff. We all here at Ozanam respect her greatly.”

We’re honoring Regina this year not only for winning the respect of her staff through her humble leadership, but also as a representative of the thousands of fundraising professionals who perform their labor of love day after day without a lot of limelight or fanfare, who just get the job done and win the respect of their peers, constituents and donors alike. Brava, Regina! And thank you.

Peggy Kennedy
Director of Interactive Marketing
International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

Lead generation is a vital aspect of nonprofit fundraising; you have to keep filling the funnel, as they say.

Over the past three years, Peggy Kennedy has grown IFCJ’s online file year over year.

According to IFCJ Vice President of Development Sue Woodward, she tripled the online file during 2012, bringing in more than 262,000 leads that converted to more than 9,500 donors with income of $832,482.

And again, while the numbers are impressive, Peggy’s success at IFCJ is less about numbers and more about her ability to look beyond the tried-and-true. To accomplish that impressive growth, Peggy ventured into new lead-gen tactics such as display advertising; TV Accelerator, a new program that allows the organization to target constituents that watch its DRTV programs and then serve up ads to them on the Web; and the first digital TV 1:20 spot that was more than break-even for new donors acquired, among other tactics.

“What Peggy does is bring more qualified online donors to the file, at a lower cost and that have a long-term value after three years of an average of over $500, and we are seeing a break even on our investment within two to four months,” Sue writes. “Can’t beat that anywhere! In other words, Peggy is a great asset, imaginative and simply the best!”

James Kimbrough
Director of Development
Washington Regional Medical Foundation

We’re all for beating the odds! In 2008, a feasibility study predicted it would be tough to raise $2 million in a capital campaign to support completion of an addition to the Washington Regional Medical System. But “through his tenacious spirit and passion for service to others, James persevered and raised more than $5.4 million for the project.”

Those results support WRMF Director of Special Events Amy Linimon’s nomination comments: “James has vision, a drive for success and determination that are unparalleled and unwavering.”

We were especially impressed with the idea that James does his best work when faced with a challenge — because, face it, challenges are a daily part of your job! Finding creative solutions to fundraising roadblocks, it seems, is one of his greatest strengths.

“Most notably, a challenge grant was issued for this capital campaign at the beginning of 2012,” Amy writes. “James successfully raised the required $750,000 for the three-year challenge grant in just six months!”

James has a long history of creative thinking in the nonprofit world: He created the first giving society and grateful patient programs for Sparks Health System in Fort Smith, Ark., and he played an integral role in a $75 million capital campaign for Heifer International in Little Rock, Ark.

Julie Siegel
Senior Vice President for Development
SPCA of Texas

Under Julie Siegel’s leadership since 2010, SPCA of Texas’ annual contributed operating income has increased by 36 percent, from $3.4 million to $4.6 million in 2012. Grants for programs and special projects increased to a record $1.5 million in 2012, and the organization achieved its $8 million capital campaign goal, allowing it to open its new building completely debt free.

Impressive, but we agree with SPCA of Texas President James Bias, who writes, “As president I am most impressed with Julie’s emphasis on developing our agency’s resources for the long term, not just for this year’s budget. In her three years on staff, I have seen Julie work as a ‘builder’ to take our agency to the next level.”

Bias explains that Julie has acted as a team builder, relationship builder, partnership builder and brand builder, listing an impressive portfolio of success ranging from pumping new life into a “small, demoralized development department focused on direct-mail fundraising, with inexperienced staff tasked largely with gift processing and data entry” to “building the ladder of giving levels to provide donors incentive, to increase their contributions, to spearheading new partnerships with media, direct-mail providers and online marketers, and capitalizing on numerous relationships and resources to increase the SPCA of Texas’ profile as a ‘Big Dog’ among Dallas nonprofits and a national leader in our industry.”

“Over three years,” Bias says, “Julie has built up resources, partnerships and capacity to raise the SPCA of Texas to the next level, and has positioned us for success in 2013.”