Get Ready to Go for the Gold

Can you believe it's already time to go for the gold? The deadline for this year’s Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence is July 10 (actual delivery, not postmark). I know that seems like forever away … but it’s not. You know how these things creep up on you. One minute you’re admiring the newly sprouted crocuses on your lawn … the next you’re sipping a frozen drink by the pool … and then — BAM! — you’re looking for an extension to get your materials in. So consider this fair warning.

The categories for 2009 are the same as they were for last year’s awards:

1. Direct Mail

* Acquisition (50,000 or more mailed)
* Acquisition (Fewer than 50,000 mailed)
* Renewal (50,000 or more mailed)
* Renewal (Fewer than 50,000 mailed)
* Special Appeal
* Package of the Year: The highest overall points-getter from among the other direct-mail winners. (Do not submit entries for this category.)
* Grand Control of the Year: Chosen from among the controls in the Who’s Mailing What! Archive. (Do not submit entries for this category.)

2. E-philanthropy: For campaigns centered around e-mail and Web, with no direct-mail components.

3. Multichannel: For campaigns that combine any number of strategies, including direct mail.

4. Fearless Fundraising: For innovative, push-the-envelope campaigns that employ elements of mobile, guerrilla, social-networking or other cutting-edge strategies. Or just something too avant-garde or off-the-hook to fit anywhere else.

Entry fees are the same as last year, as well: $125 for the first entry and $75 for each additional entry from the same company or organization, no matter how many categories you enter. Winners will be announced in the September issue of FundRaising Success magazine.

Click here for an entry form and tracking sheet.