City Harvest

Food and hunger nonprofits City Harvest and Philabundance utilize the "brown paper bag" outer envelope technique in these direct-mail fundraising campaigns. In this video, I show viewers how each of these nonprofits gets donors engaged in the packages in different ways. For access to more mailings like the ones seen here, visit www.whosmailingwhat.com.

It's finally here. It's been roughly 11 months since our inaugural Engage Conference, and after such wonderful response and participation last year, we here at FundRaising Success knew we had to keep it going. And now the day is finally just here, with the second annual Engage Conference all set for tomorrow at the WHYY building in Philadelphia.

What I love about the roundtables is that they are almost completely attendee-driven. The moderators say a quick hi and share an overview of the topic, but then the discussion is steered by the questions posed by the guests at the table.

Not only do speakers at Engage reside over our in-depth cases studies and delve deep into attendees' concerns and questions, but they're available all day long to chat and further explore whatever it is the audience is looking to explore.

It's never too early to plan for the year-end fundraising season. With that in mind, Ellen Cobb Church, CEO of Craver, Mathews, Smith & Co., provided five things fundraisers should already be doing to make sure they retain donors and improve income at year-end 2014 in her column "Looking Ahead to Year-End 2014":

Fundraising is all about building relationships. You hear it all the time. And before you can start a relationship with anyone, you have to properly introduce yourself. Strategist and trainer Nancy Schwartz of Getting Attention! provided "6 Tips to Take Bios From Boring to Brilliant" in the December 2013 issue of FundRaising Success.

In the 2013 FundRaising Success Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence, food rescue organization City Harvest took home gold in the Direct Mail (Less Than $10 Million) category for its November 2012 Holiday Card Appeal.

We're bringing the popular Engage Conference back to Philadelphia on April 10. Once again it will be held in the shadow of the Liberty Bell at WHYY in Old City. And once again it will offer a great lineup of scintillating speakers, roundtable discussion, and lots of opportunities to network and get your questions answered.

The second annual FundRaising Success Engage Conference is just one month away! Register today for the April 10 conference in Philadelphia!

So what books are fundraisers reading? Strategist and trainer Nancy Schwartz of Getting Attention! asked her peers that question and shared "15 Books That Could Change Your Life."