Lautman Maska Neill & Co.

The deadline for entering the NonProfit PRO Gold Awards is just days away. While you’re thinking about all the remarkable work you’ve done that deserves to be recognized, consider this campaign from 2009 by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Submitted by Lautman Maska Neill & Company, the “Department of Defense” series of emails centered on the suffering of animals used in combat training...

Put simply, modeling means finding like characteristics about people that, when combined, enable you to predict future behavior. There are several inexpensive ways to model your data yourself (and some more expensive ways to use external data sources to help you) that can yield more revenue at lower cost from your direct-response program.

Direct mail is a cost-effective way of raising money that allows an organization to educate the public; can enhance visibility and broaden a donor base; and is a good way to recruit prospects for other non-direct mail fundraising (major gifts, planned giving, volunteer recruitment, etc.). In their session “Why Direct Mail Is More Important Than Ever” at the 44th AFP International Conference on Fundraising, Lisa Maska and Tiffany Neill, both senior vice presidents at Lautman & Company, presented a case study of a small nonprofit launching a direct-mail program to demonstrate the benefits of direct mail and some best practices. Maska and Neill

Following are some things to keep in mind if you want to rise to the top of your field -- whether in nonprofit fundraising or any other field -- and a few caveats about how to stay there once you do. How to get to the top 1. Don’t work for anyone or anything you don’t admire. 2. If you aren’t excited about your job or your field, change jobs or fields. 3. Don’t be afraid to fail. 4. Do every possible job in your company -- at least briefly. 5. Be 100 percent dependable; do what you promise -- and on time.

Grueling is the word that crossed the lips of the intrepid judges for our 2006 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence as they made their way out of our offices one hot afternoon in August.

Not that we’re particularly demanding taskmasters, but the competition was, indeed, fierce. Much to our glee, it grew from 33 packages in 2005 to nearly 90 this year (sent in by 21 agencies and four nonprofit organizations). Some of the categories remained the same, but we added a few and tweaked a few others.