DMA Nonprofit Federation Honors American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as 2009 Nonprofit Organization of the Year

Washington, DC, August 3, 2009 — The Direct Marketing Association's Nonprofit Federation (DMANF) today announced the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as the winner of its 2009 Nonprofit Organization of the Year Award.

The award will be presented Thursday, August 13, at a luncheon during DMANF’s 2009 New York Nonprofit Conference taking place August 12-13 at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. Presented annually, the award recognizes outstanding achievement by a nonprofit organization using direct response marketing to advance its mission.

The ASPCA, the first humane organization in the Western Hemisphere, works to rescue animals from abuse, pass humane laws, and share resources with shelters nationwide. They provide local and national leadership in three key areas: serving victims of animal cruelty, providing positive outcomes for at-risk animals, and caring for pets and owners.

“This award truly highlights what DMANF and its members are all about,” said Brian Cowart, chair of DMANF’s Awards Committee, and senior director, direct mail donor acquisition and cultivation for ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “The ASPCA continues to be an innovator and leader in multichannel fundraising while lending their voice to help the nonprofit fundraising community expand its impact on the missions of the organizations they work on behalf of. The ASPCA team has done amazing work and fully deserves every single accolade they receive.”

“We congratulate the ASPCA on this well-deserved reward,” said Chris Quinn, DMANF executive director. “The exciting and inspirational work done this year has all of us looking forward to their future successes. The Federation is proud to have the ASPCA as a member.”

“We are so thrilled and humbled to receive this wonderful honor,” said Jo Sullivan, ASPCA executive vice president of external affairs. “This award is a tremendous endorsement for the collaboration taking place across the ASPCA, as well as the commitment and generosity of our donors and volunteers. It is these crucial contributions that make an award of this caliber possible.”

DMANF’s Awards Committee recommended the ASPCA based on their exceptional direct response fundraising and accomplishments. Their tremendous success was driven by an ability to effectively expand their multichannel marketing efforts with a focus on DRTV; telemarketing; mobile marketing; and direct mail.

The ASPCA’s introduction of DRTV in 2004 has strongly impacted the growth in their number of monthly giving donors, increasing that percentage by almost 700 percent. This, in turn has resulted in the percentage of their overall net direct marketing revenue generated from monthly giving donors to increase from 21 percent in 2003, to more than 50 percent today.

Over the last four years, the ASPCA has also seen extensive growth in its direct marketing fundraising program. During this timeframe, their direct marketing revenue has increased by more than 150 percent. Within the last two years alone, they have seen double-digit increases for nearly every key performance metric including: gross revenue; revenue per donor; number of new donors; gift frequency; and number of gifts.

The ASPCA has also implemented several cutting-edge strategies over the last few years, including an innovative Prospect Conversion Program aimed at non members and an online, integrated, multichannel acquisition program, that have successfully expanded the scope and impact of their online fundraising. These efforts have resulted in the number of their online registered members to increase by 65 percent from 2007 – 2008 and their online revenues having increased by 126 percent since 2006.

Past recipients of DMANF’s Nonprofit Organization of the Year Award include: Operation Smile; Doctors without Borders; American Diabetes Association; CARE; Mothers Against Drunk Driving; and Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. For a full list of DMANF Nonprofit Organization of the Year Award winners, please click here.

About the Nonprofit Federation of the DMA
The Nonprofit Federation of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is the leading association for nonprofit organizations that use direct marketing channels such as mail, Internet, email, telephone, and social networking to gain support from individual donors. For more than 25 years, the Nonprofit Federation (and its predecessor organizations) has served as an effective advocate for nonprofits both in Washington, DC and in all 50 states regarding postal rates and delivery service, data protection, fundraising accountability, and other legislative and regulatory issues that affect nonprofit fundraising. It also leads the way in professional education, market intelligence, and networking for its more than 400 member organizations. In 2007, Americans gave $229 billion to nonprofit organizations; the majority of those donations were the result of direct marketing. For additional information on the Nonprofit Federation, its work, and its member benefits, visit www.nonprofitfederation.org.

About the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) was the first humane organization established in the Americas, and today has more than one million supporters throughout North America. A 501 [c] [3] not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA’s mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA provides local and national leadership in animal-assisted therapy, animal behavior, animal poison control, anti-cruelty, humane education, legislative services, and shelter outreach. The New York City headquarters houses a full-service, accredited animal hospital, adoption center, and mobile clinic outreach program. The Humane Law Enforcement department enforces New York’s animal cruelty laws and is featured on the reality television series “Animal Precinct” on Animal Planet. For more information, please visit www.aspca.org.