Gold Awards Flashback: World Vision U.S. (2011 Package of the Year)

As we gear up for this year's Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence competition, take a look back at our winner from 2011, World Vision U.S.'s Back to School Bounceback "Flight," submitted by Russ Reid.

From the judges: "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.

"Not so with our 2011 Package of the Year. This sustainer/upgrade effort from Russ Reid on behalf of World Vision U.S. is engaging, colorful and just plain fun. Plus, it looks deceptively simple: Birds, planes, kites and other flying things float across the colorful outer envelope, practically begging the recipient to open it. The banner at the bottom that says, 'Inside: A cool paper airplane for sponsored children,' doesn't hurt either. Inside, the letter and reply device are moving and concise … and then you see it — a thick trifold on glossy, heavy stock with fun facts about birds, butterflies and flying machines on back of a happy-looking paper airplane cutout that is meant to be signed and sent to the recipient's sponsored child along with a handwritten note from the donor. In an amazing display of personalization, assembly and other instructions appear in both the donor's and child's native languages."

To read more about this award-winning package, click here.

But then, get hopping. Gold Awards time is not only here, but the deadline is darn close! Deadline for getting in your entries for FundRaising Success' eighth annual Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence is Aug. 26 — please note, that's the delivery cutoff, not postmark.

You can check out all of last year's winners here.

The awards change a little each year based on observations made the previous year, so our categories look a little different for 2013. They are: