Direct Response

New River Communications takes a pair of Silver awards for direct mail—house and direct mail—acquisition. One for Camillus House and Health and another for Yellowstone Park Foundation. See why they won here...

It’s that magical time when we get to recognize the best, most memorable, most innovative fundraising campaigns. It’s a big responsibility, and choosing the winners is no easy task. All of these entries are just so good—our judges had their hands full. But boy is it rewarding seeing the work of all you fundraisers out there, and the massive impact you help nonprofits achieve. Here are the winners of the 2016 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence, presented by Turnkey...

This membership effort faced two significant challenges and met each well. First, 
it found commonality between two artists—Leonardo da Vinci and M.C. Escher—and was able to communicate how the works of both provide glimpses into their extraordinary minds. Second, it repeated the benefits of membership throughout every element of the package...

This package, although simple, accomplishes several tasks well. First, it makes the reader care. On the front of the #10 outer, a large black-and-white photograph of a dog in a decaying box is heartbreaking. It takes up almost half of the face of the envelope...

The scope of this multichannel campaign—consisting of 
an email series, social media posts, landing pages, SEM ads, 
catalogs, inserts, brochures and more—is staggering. But it 
was the consistency across channels that really wowed our judges...

At 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, First Class stamps will cost 49 cents. USPS says it will also increase postage prices on other products, such as Standard Mail, periodicals and package services. USPS says the postage increases are happening because of the removal of an exigent surcharge...

At the end of November, I made year-end donations to 25 organizations. Because I was worried about people who would be left behind in the new administration, 11 of these were new donations. I wish I could tell you that all these organizations sent glowing thank you letters and have been following up with engaging updates…

Yesterday during his press conference, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to bring jobs to the states whose voters helped him win. Just what does that mean? Examining how Trump won the election matters—because many believe it was his campaign’s command of data that put him over the top...

Last year at this time, I sent $25 donations to 19 organizations. Only one ranked among larger organizations in term of annual income. So, how do I, a small-level donor, feel 12 months later? Would I want to give again (and maybe a larger amount) based on the relationship that was built in 2016?...

Maybe that’s how you feel about some of the people who seem determined to steal fundraising by making it next to impossible to succeed.