Gold Awards Time!

It used to be that a nonprofit would send out a direct-mail piece and, basically, sit back and hope the checks would start rolling in. If a recipient was reading the piece and her phone rang, the nonprofit might likely lose the donation she would have made had she not been interrupted while reading the solicitation — no matter how compelling it was. That’s just the nature of the human attention span, which too often is said to be the equivalent of a highly caffeinated gnat.

Or maybe the dog grabbed the mail as it went into the slot, and the intended recipient never even saw it. Or he was just too busy to read it at the time and tossed it on the table, where it got covered by the weekly coupon insert, the gas bill and an old pizza box.

But that was then (not all that long ago), and this is now — the age of multichannel communications, when fundraisers have a multitude of ways to reach donors, potential donors and other supporters. You all have had to step up your game to meet folks where they are (be it in the postal mail, email, online, on the streets, etc.). And you certainly have, creating messaging that is as powerful online as it is on paper, or on the phone, or at the intersection of, “Gee, I’m in a hurry,” and, “Wow, I want to help.”

That’s why Gold Awards time is one of our favorite times of year around here. We get to peruse some of the most creative and compelling fundraising campaigns of the previous year, and it just deepens our gratitude for being able to be part of such a committed and compassionate industry.

The submission period for the 2014 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence is now officially open. Yay! It’s pretty similar to previous years, but we’ve added a new category: Peer-to-Peer. This year’s full lineup of categories is Direct Mail, Email, Multichannel, Telefundraising, Special Event, Peer-to-Peer, Website, Social-Media Mastery and On the Edge. You can find the entry forms here, more information on the awards here and a list of past winners here. Don’t forget, the deadline is Aug. 22, and in order for a campaign to be eligible, it must have taken place between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of 2013. The 2014 Gold Awards winners will be announced in the October issue of FundRaising Success.

Speaking of peer-to-peer
Mark the date! On Oct. 21, FundRaising Success will launch its newest conference, Engage P2P: Redefining Peer-to-Peer, which will take place in Washington, D.C., and take a fresh look at this increasingly popular form of fundraising, digging deep into best practices in the most challenging areas of P2P. In the fresh-faced spirit of the original Engage conference, attendees can look forward to riveting sessions led by folks who have been in the trenches of P2P, holistic examinations of P2P campaigns and hot-right-now breakout discussions, as well as plenty of time to engage with speakers and peers from around the country. Engage P2P is designed for organizations that are knee-deep in P2P, as well as those that are just getting their feet wet. So mark the date, and keep an eye out for more information. Hope to see you there!