MAXI Awards Highlights

On Wednesday evening, the Direct Marketing Association of Washington presented its annual MAXI Awards on the eve of the 2011 Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Md.

DMAW President Kristin McCurry kicked off the presentation ceremony, then turned things over to the tuxedo-clad, wise-cracking team of Patrick Frame, a principal of Key Acquisition Partners, and Charlie Cadigan, senior vice president of PEP Direct, to present the awards.

"It's no secret, direct marketers for the last decade have been dealing with a marketing revolution. Our customers, clients and donors are talking back. We are in the era of 'engagement,' and the number of tools available to us continually grows," McCurry said. "We are told we have to meet our audience where they are, and they decide to do business with us based on their experience with us. So our campaigns are becoming increasingly multichannel and strategic in their development.

"Bottom line, we are still responsible for trying to figure out the best way to get people who receive our communications to do something, and then we have to measure their response to plan the next step," she added.

The DMAW presented 80 awards in five channels: Direct Mail, Multichannel, New Media, Telemarketing and Workhorse. Following is a synopsis of the Gold MAXI winning entries.

DIRECT MAIL: NONPROFIT ACQUISITION-PROSPECTING
Fundraising Strategies
for Operation Care Package
Patrick Frame: "We are gathered here tonight as seasoned direct-marketing professionals. When we are sending out thousands of pieces of mail at a time, it's often easy to forget how meaningful a single piece of correspondence can be. This winning entry asks you to imagine what it's like to be thousands of miles from home serving your country, and when mail call finally arrives, there is nothing for you. That compelling message on the envelope, which carried a lumpy surprise, ensured there was no way the package was not going to be opened. The lump was a sock, and this 'Sock It To Me' campaign to help troops through Operation Care Package had a response rate of 6.17 percent with an overall gift of $32."

Merkle
for Feeding America
Charlie Cadigan: "Given how wonderful everyone looks tonight, it's obvious that you all spent some time pondering what to wear to this special occasion. Some of life's choices are not quite so easy. Imagine the painful dilemma of a parent who is forced by the cruelest of circumstances to decide which child doesn't get fed today. This winning package for Feeding America posed the strong emotional hook and the engaging device of a scratch-off insert asking potential donors to choose which kid goes hungry. This compelling combination encouraged donors to give a gift so no child went hungry. It worked and inspired a 65 percent increase in the number of gifts received over the control."

DIRECT MAIL: NONPROFIT MAJOR DONORS
Lautman Maska Neill & Co.
for Accion
PF: "Our sense of touch is a powerful tool in our lives. Just our fingertips alone can send a cascade of stimuli into our brain and capture our attention. So when a mail package delivers a truly tactile experience, the results can be sensational. This high-touch campaign included a four-color photograph of a beneficiary, attached to a lift note, coupled with a four-page letter, and an inspiring story about a Brazilian man lifted from poverty by a small loan. The strong emotional appeal on behalf of ACCION and the right choice of intriguing components proved a winning combination — with a response rate of 14.8 percent and an average gift of $2,749."

Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey
for The Wilderness Society
CC: "Author and illustrator Maurice Sendak is a household name because of his children's classic 'Where the Wild Things Are.' With 6,000 acres of open space disappearing every day, the client for this winning entry is committed to protecting Mother Nature's splendor. And it takes a lot of money to battle the drilling, mining and timber industries. To rally big donors to their cause, The Wilderness Society had a high-touch membership card renewal package created for them and combined it with a sense of urgency. The results were phenomenal. The average gift was more than $1,800, and it cost only 7 cents to raise a dollar among their elite members."

DIRECT MAIL: NONPROFIT EVENTS
Griswold & Griswold
for the Washington Animal Rescue League
PF: "As you all know, it can be quite a task to get dinner reservations in town during the holidays. That's why it's a good idea to have options. And that was the thinking behind the Washington Animal Rescue League's launch of a campaign they affectionately called 'Pick Your Dinner Date.' Donors were invited to attend one of two small, intimate dinners roughly a week apart to raise money for a new animal rescue van. The invitation package was built around a diagram of a van along with pictures of similar vehicles for the rescue of cats and dogs. The results of the 'Pick Your Dinner Date' mailing more than tripled the income of the record-setting event in the previous year — with an average gift of $2,667."

DIRECT MAIL: NONPROFIT RENEWALS
Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey
for the World Jewish Congress Foundation
PF: "How do you define class? You just know it when you see it. You know it by its elegance when it walks into the ballroom, delivers a speech, drives by on the street or steps in front of a camera. It's the top. It's a bottle of Dom Perignon. It's the 'Mona Lisa.' It's this prize-winning package on behalf of the World Jewish Congress Foundation. Maintaining a high level of prestige with upscale donors is crucial to getting them to continue their generous support. And this campaign delivers, with high-quality paper stock throughout, personalized calling cards and an exquisitely detailed letter about the various threats faced by Jewish people around the world. This package inspired a response rate of more than 20 percent, and it consistently brings in more than double the income from any other campaign in the year."

DIRECT MAIL: NONPROFIT APPEALS
Avalon Consulting Group
for the Galapagos Conservancy
PF: "The more we know, the faster we understand that we have so much to learn about direct marketing. Who knew that a simple but high-yielding campaign sent to general members would work well with major donors? With a few enhancements like additional personalization, First Class postage and an inspiring photograph of a tortoise returning to Pinta Island for the first time since 1972, this appeal for the Galapagos Conservancy worked gangbusters. Lesson learned: You don't have to use a $5 package to bring high returns. Budget restrictions did not prevent this low-cost appeal from bringing in an impressive 18.24 percent response rate with an average gift of $766."

Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey
for the World Jewish Congress Foundation
CC: "Great news for people who feared the great American newspaper was dead. People do still read, and the paper that provides 'all the news that's fit to print' was an integral part of this winning package. The World Jewish Congress Foundation used a special collector's edition of The New York Times filled with historical highlights of its coverage of the Jewish state to inspire major donors to make a big gift. And it delivered. The appeal pulled in a 9.51 percent response rate and an average gift of $652."

Lautman Maska Neill and Co.
for the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
PF: "Like all good direct marketers, we'd have to admit that we've spent many a sleepless night tossing and turning and worrying whether our big year-end mailing will be tossed in the trash or inspire a large donation. The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation deployed a personal address label strategy in their campaign. To ensure it impressed their donors, they had the labels turned out in their finest dress uniforms. The labels came in more vibrant colors and festive gold foil worthy of any parade — generating a response from almost 5,000 existing donors for this year-end campaign."

DIRECT MAIL: POLITICAL APPEALS
Base Connect
for Sharron Angle
PF: "When donors receive a USPS Priority envelope, you have their attention. The trick is to figure out what to do with it. This winning package for Senate candidate Sharron Angle in Nevada included a graph of poll numbers vividly depicting the results of her opponent's tactics. The chart also clearly showed how her numbers jumped when her TV ads hit the airwaves. The campaign appealed for more support so the numbers would keep rising rapidly. With a response rate of 14.45 percent, the 8,000 plus donors netted a huge $461,000."

Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey
for The Democratic National Committee
PF: "To be honest, I am very tempted to steal this package and put it up on eBay and sell it for a small fortune. It is a rarity, indeed. This winning package included a map that literally is leading to gold. How many pirates ended up in Davy Jones' locker for a lot less? The Democratic National Committee created an oversized, four-color 'Vote 2010 Election Map' with key races highlighted. This Presidential Partners major donor appeal drew an outstanding 5.63 percent response rate and an incredible $855 average gift."

TELEMARKETING
Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey
for the Democratic National Committee
PF: "If we only had a dime, or better yet a dollar, for every time we tried to recapture declined automatic payments or lapsed check payment sustainers in a monthly telemarketing campaign, we might not have to make another call in our lifetime. Yes, it is much easier said than done. But this winning campaign for the Democratic National Committee — Team Obama — combined a personal high-end calling approach and a personalized mailing aimed at getting a 'catch-up' gift to recoup the lost income during the lapsed period. This dual approach was brilliant. A staggering 97.5 percent fulfillment for first-month donors at an average monthly gift of $35 will result in annualized income of over $1.4 million for the DNC Team Obama."

MULTICHANNEL
Lautman Maska Neill + Co.
for The Actors Fund
PF: "Putting a face to a cause is a wonderful way to stir compassion and raise revenue. It's easier said than done. But this winning campaign did it in a special way when it tuned in to the musical talents of Joan at the Lillian Booth Actors Home. During the holiday season, Joan made it a heartwarming tradition to lift the spirits of her fellow residents with her piano playing. This campaign encouraged donors to send in song suggestions for Joan to play along with their donations. Well, it was a big hit. The Actors Fund received hundreds of song suggestions, and the average gift between direct mail and e-mail was $219, making this the highest appeal of the year."

NEW MEDIA CHANNELS
CDR Fundraising Group
for Wounded Warrior Project
CC: "The voice on the video begins, 'We were heading out for a combat mission. My vehicle was sent six feet in the air in a ball of fire. It could have been any of our loved ones or friends. Dan survived that terrible ordeal but paid a heavy price for his bravery.' Dan's story told so vividly for his comrades in arms asks that we not forget our veterans. In May 2010, the Wounded Warrior Project rolled out a coordinated campaign using instantaneous media placement through Google TV ads, which included three DRTV spots. The results were just about instantaneous! The average gift was $29.78, and the total number of new monthly donors using a credit card of electronic funds transfer reached more that 7,700."