Mal Warwick Associates

The Nonprofit Federation of the Direct Marketing Association (DMANF) today announced that Mal Warwick, Founder & Chairman, Mal Warwick Associates, has been selected as the 2009 recipient of its Max L. Hart Nonprofit Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual within the nonprofit community.  The award was presented at a luncheon today during the Federation’s 2009 Washington Nonprofit Conference, which concludes this afternoon at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC.

The Resource Alliance (RA) is announcing the launch of IFC Online — a virtual fundraising conference that will take place on May 12-14, 2009.

When FundRaising Success first came into existence in 2003, the Internet (as a fundraising tool) hung plump and juicy, like a peach at the top of a tree, not quite ripe — and just out of reach.

From the Association of Fundraising Professionals: Sixty-two percent of Americans believe the typical nonprofit organization spends more than what is reasonable on overhead expenses such as administration and fundraising, according to a new survey. When respondents were asked what is a reasonable level of overhead costs for nonprofits, the average figure was 22.4 cents for every dollar collected. However, when asked what they thought the typical nonprofit actually spends on overhead costs, the figure was 36.3 cents per dollar. The findings, gleaned from a survey developed and conducted by Ellison Research involving more than 1,000 American adults, found that while respondents were fairly consistent

In a report titled “Myths of Monthly Donor Programs” on the Mal Warwick Associates Web site, Canadian consultant Harvey McKinnon talks about how easy it is for a nonprofit to lose annual donors to those organizations with more aggressive monthly donor campaigns. “When a donor joins a monthly donor club it has consequences. She may even start reducing her single gift donations to other nonprofits — perhaps yours! — because she has committed a greater share of her charitable funds through monthly donor programs. Here’s an example to illustrate my point: A donor, Ms. Cindy Williams, regularly gives a total of $1,000 a

The age of corporate responsibility is here, and many direct mailers didn’t see it coming. And many don’t know what to do. Mal Warwick — founder and chairman of Mal Warwick Associates, a Berkeley, Calif.– and Washington D.C.–based fundraising agency specializing in direct marketing — got a head start more than a decade ago, when being socially and environmentally responsible wasn’t necessarily profitable. Now he serves as a model for direct marketers everywhere who want to achieve the so-called “triple bottom line” — social, environmental AND financial success — that actually is more profitable for most of the companies that pursue it. Warwick

The question we as fundraising consultants are asked most often also is the question we keep asking ourselves: What elements of a direct-mail package are most important to test? The question is important. What makes direct mail so successful as a fundraising medium is that we can track results and learn from them. Everyone involved in direct mail makes decisions based on anecdotal information and on personal preferences. We also depend on experience: We compare one year’s results to another year’s results, or we line up returns from one package mailed in June against returns from another package mailed in September. But those judgment

Technically, this isn’t our typical BlogSpot, but we wanted to include these quotes from the 27th International Fundraising Congress, which took place in the Netherlands last week — and this seemed like as good a place as any to do it. “If you learn nothing else from IFC, you must take away that Major Philanthropy is the new rock ‘n’ roll. If you’re not giving away money — and lots of money if you have it — you’re not cool. Bill and Warren were — as in many other things — simply ahead of the curve.” — Bernard Ross, director of U.K.-based fundraising consultancy

Every organization that sends direct mail knows that, nine times out of 10, including a premium in a direct-mail package will increase response. But, similarly, it’s also common knowledge that in addition to increasing the cost of a mailing — both in terms of production and postage — premium mailings net lower-value donors. So, what to do? Peter Schoewe, senior consultant with direct-response fundraising firm Mal Warwick Associates, shared two key tips for how to get the most out of up-front premiums in the monthly, consistently useful Mal Warwick’s Newsletter last November. They are: 1. Give the prospect a premium they want, not what

The book “Open Immediately! Straight Talk on Direct Mail Fundraising: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why,” by Stephen Hitchcock, president of Mal Warwick Associates, features 81 chapters that look at nearly every facet of direct-mail fundraising, from acquiring and renewing donors to writing effective letters to the art of the ask. The second chapter of the book — titled “Hairsplitting Traps to Avoid” — discusses the balance nonprofit mailers have to strike between nitpicking for quality and sticking with their mailing schedule. “If you’re spending all your time trying to make each mailing perfect, you won’t be able to get out all your