Russ Reid

Direct-response marketing agencies Russ Reid and SCA Direct, which both specialize in helping nonprofit organizations raise funds, have merged. The new entity, called Russ Reid, represents some of the best-known charities in North America. Russ Reid offices are in Pasadena, Calif., and Toronto, while SCA Direct is headquartered in Fairfax, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Some packages just take off, making response rates soar and flying higher than even their creators could imagine. In most cases, those sky-high accolades are just metaphorical.

Why keep learning? Because things are changing, and we need to change along with them. There are great opportunities to learn, no matter what your learning style is.

Three themes seemed to emerge at the Engage Conference among all the presentations — retention, risk and reward, or the three R's.

Why convert? And to what end? To quote Tom Harrison, Russ Reid CEO, why are nonprofits mad at about 50 percent of their donors at any given time for donating in the “wrong” way?

In its attempts at conversion, the sector either makes too many assumptions or too few and too many attempts to convert the wrong donors to the wrong something and not enough trying to convert the right ones to a convertible something.

Everyone learns from their mistakes, and it's just as important to learn from the mistakes of others. In last month's print issue, Tom Harrison, CEO of Russ Reid and member of the FS Editorial Advisory Board, shared "15 Mistakes That Have Already Been Made for You."

In June 2010, Russ Reid CEO Tom Harrison and Operation Smile's Kyla Shawyer, both of whom will be presenting Operation Smile's case study session at Engage, discussed how "Innovation + Integration = Impact."

For our January cover story this year, "Sleepless in 2013," we transcribed that closing session with Dane Grams, national director of direct response at Amnesty International USA; fundraising consultant Jo Sullivan; Jeff Jowdy, founder and presider of Lighthouse Counsel; Marc Pitman, founder of FundraisingCoach.com; and Tom Harrison, CEO of Russ Reid — all of whom will be presenting or leading roundtables at Engage — as well as fellow Editorial Advisory Board member Christina Johns, director of new media at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

Operation Smile's mission is no mystery, healing children's smiles by fixing cleft lips and cleft palates all over the world. It is an organization that truly gives people "Something to Smile About," which then-FS Associate Editor Melissa Busch detailed in our October 2008 cover story.

Here are 15 mistakes we all wish we had known about without having to actually make them! There may only be seven deadly sins, but there are myriad marketing missteps. If you have others to add, we’d love to hear from you!