2014 DMAW MAXI Awards Results

Direct Mail
Longwood Gardens and Daniller + Co. used color and a previously successful 6-inch-by-9-inch format to lift acquisition results, targeting lapsed, prospect and new lists to broaden its reach. The change delivered a winning 1.36 percent response rate, $250,000 net and $61 profit per member acquired. The National Museum of the American Indian and Avalon Consulting received recognition for the organization’s new control — a 6-inch-by-9-inch survey and bookmark acquisition format. “Dispelling Stereotypes” drove a 40 percent higher response rate than the previous acquisition with notecards and a 61 percent decrease in investment per donor. This campaign also won a 2014 Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association Package of the Year Award.

Marine Toys for Tots and CDR Fundraising Group drove Gold MAXI results for an acquisition test that included a personalized, First Class stamp paper-clipped to the reply device and the story of a family who couldn’t afford gifts for its children at Christmas. The self-made stamp test increased response by 423 percent over the control.

Paws for Purple Hearts, in partnership with Fund Raising Strategies, created a convincing acquisition with a “hand addressed” outer envelope and six-page note from a veteran, telling his story of training service dogs to become companions for veterans with PTSD. It was a big win for this small charity with a 3 percent response rate and net profit of $33,000.

The Civil War Trust took home five MAXIs for major-donor and special-appeal campaigns. A 9-inch-by-12-inch envelope delivered a major-donor message including a Certificate of Acceptance, Civil War Commemorative First Class stamped reply envelope and a lift note from board member and country singer Trace Adkins. The organization achieved its goal of pushing the number of $1,000+ donors over the 1,000 mark, netting $36,000 and average gift of $1,200. The Civil War Trust continued on its winning spree with a special appeal, this time to preserve a hallowed battlefield. A combination of full-color maps, a birthday card bounce back for a Civil War tour guide’s 90th birthday, and a DVD mapping the Vicksburg Civil War Campaign and Battle netted more than $200,000 and a phenomenal response rate of 20.85 percent.