ParadyszMatera

The Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) today announced the election of new officers and 11 new members to its Board of Trustees for 2010-2011. The terms commenced earlier today at DMEF’s Annual Meeting, which was held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, California.

The DMEF Board of Trustees elected Richard Hochhauser, former president and chief executive officer, Harte-Hanks, Inc., as chairman. A marketing veteran, Hochhauser retired from Harte-Hanks in 2008, after 33 years of service.

As the recession has deepened, acquisition of new donors through direct mail has become more difficult. In a session titled “Keep the Acquisition Ideas Coming: List Optimization" at the recent DMA 2010 Washington Nonprofit Conference, four speakers provided techniques to refine selection of prospect lists to improve acquisition results.

In the DMA Nonprofit Federation workshop “45 Top Strategies to Survive and Thrive in Today’s Economy” held in May in New York, presenters Lynn Edmonds, president; Bryan Terpstra, vice president of fundraising; Amy Beaudoin, associate creative director; and Kevin Eagan, vice president of production services, all of LW Robbins Associates; and Jenny Floria, senior director of account management at ParadyszMatera, offered practical guidance on the best strategies to strengthen donor relationships and increase net revenue during the economic downturn.

Premiums can take many forms, from traditional address labels and calendars to the more unusual seed packet or even piggy bank. What they all have in common is the ability to get the mail opened, generate higher response rates (than non-premium efforts), and drive us all crazy with worries about their up-front cost and the value/renewability of the donors they acquire.