CARE USA shifts into fundraising overdrive when disaster strikes, but its day-to-day development plan keeps it at the forefront of humanitarian-aid organizations.

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

A LOOK AT DM*

CARE direct-marketing fundraising includes:

* A direct-mail acquisition effort that this year will acquire over 105,000 new donors with a first-time average gift of $39.74.

* An Internet-based fundraising program, including e-appeals and e-newsletters, that has raised $13,648,643 with an average gift of $182 through the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.

* A direct-mail annual-giving program that this year will use 23 unique and separate mailings to raise $13.1 million, generate an overall average response rate of 4.77 percent and an average gift of $43.38. This program achieves a remarkable 6.27:1 ROI.

* A mid-level, donor specialized program that this year will raise more than $6 million from just 3,800 donors, with an average gift of almost $1,600. This highly successful mid-level program also has increased the gift frequency of donors to 3.7 gifts per year compared to 2.9 in the previous year, an increase in gift frequency of 24 percent.

* A monthly sustainer program with 5,251 active members who this year will give $1.23 million with an average gift of $26.05. This effective program produces an ROI of greater than 20:1.

* A donor-focused newsletter that will raise $3.43 million this fiscal year, generate an average gift of $39.46, and produce an ROI of 4.89:1.

* A gift acknowledgement/receipt program that this year will generate more than $750,000 in revenue through bounce-back gifts. This gift-receipt program generates an average gift of $24.78, for $3.70 in new revenue for each $1 spent on the program. The overall loyalty (continuation of second-year and multi-year donors) rate for current donors is 61 percent, but for multi-year donors alone it’s 75 percent.

* Taken from the DMANF 2005 Nonprofit Organization of the Year nomination form submitted June 1, 2005, by The Domain Group

Debra Neuman is on intimate terms with the tsunami that devastated southern Asia in December 2004. Just as you would never refer to a friend as “the Bill” or “the Mary,” she calls the killer storm simply “tsunami” — no preceding article — as though the word should be spelled with a capital T.

It’s unnerving at first, but it makes sense. The storm killed thousands of people in an area where a few expensive resorts stood out among large patches of widespread poverty like diamonds set against a backdrop of pitch. As senior vice president of external relations for CARE USA, an organization that works exclusively with “the poorest of the poor” around the world, Neuman was keenly aware of the developing needs of storm victims and worked with her staff to raise funds to meet those needs. She certainly doesn’t consider the tsunami a friendly force, but it reached deep into the heart of the organization that employs her.

CARE USA

151 Ellis St.,
Atlanta, GA 30303

Phone: 404.681.2552

Fax: 404.589.2651

E-mail: info@care.org

On the Web: www.careusa.org

THE FIGURES
Annual Operating Budget (FY2005): $624 million
Contributed Revenue (Private Funding): 23 percent
Channel Breakdown:
Major Gifts: 45 percent
Direct Marketing: 30 percent
Web Income: 9 percent
Other: 9 percent
Planned Gifts: 7 percent

THE MISSION (from careusa.org)
“Our mission is to serve individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. Drawing strength from our global diversity, resources and experience, we promote innovative solutions and are advocates for global responsibility. We facilitate lasting change by strengthening capacity for self-help; providing economic opportunity; delivering relief in emergencies; influencing policy decisions at all levels; addressing discrimination in all its forms. Guided by the aspirations of local communities, we pursue our mission with both excellence and compassion because the people whom we serve deserve nothing less.”

WHAT IT DOES (from careusa.org)
“CARE works with poor communities in more than 70 countries around the world to find lasting solutions to poverty. We look at the big picture of poverty and go beyond the symptoms to confront underlying causes. With a broad range of programs based on empowerment, equity and sustainability, CARE seeks to tap human potential and leverage the power of individuals and communities to unleash a vast force for progress.”

HISTORY
CARE USA began with “care packages” sent to Europe and Asia to give World War II survivors food and supplies. The first CARE Packages were U.S. Army surplus “10-in-1” food parcels intended to provide one meal for 10 soldiers during the planned invasion of Japan. CARE obtained them at the end of World War II and began a service that let Americans send the packages to friends and families in Europe, where millions were in danger of starvation. Ten dollars bought a CARE Package and guaranteed its addressee would receive it within four months. When the “10-in-1” parcels ran out, CARE began assembling its own food packages, with the help of donations from American companies. At first, senders had to designate a specific person as the recipient, but soon CARE was flooded with donations to send CARE Packages. CARE phased out the package decades ago as it expanded the breadth of its work.