Danny Thomas’ ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Has a Hollywood/Fundraising Connection That Still Shines 50 Years Later

By Abny Santicola

Direct mail traditionally has been one of ALSAC/St. Jude’s most effective fundraising tools, with more than 91 million mail pieces sent to donors and prospects each year, recruiting more than a million new donors annually and bringing in 90 percent of the direct-marketing department’s funds.

The direct-marketing program’s goals are to generate gifts from individual donors and to recruit Partners In Hope, sustainer donors who make monthly gifts. Right now, ALSAC/St. Jude has 400,000 such “partners.”