Winners of the 2014 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

I’d like to thank our intrepid judges for sharing their thoughts — as well as their time — with us. I’d also like to thank everyone who submitted entries into this year’s competition and those who were involved in their creation and execution. And, as always, the Gold Awards are another reminder of just how special the fundraising sector and its practitioners are. So thank you all — winner or not, entrant or not — for all that you do to help make the world a better, safer, saner place.

Across Channels … and Generations
The Children’s Center in Detroit went all out to create a campaign that truly embraced the notion of multichannel and gave some of our judges chills with its powerful messaging and far-reaching appeal.

Campaign of the Year
(Also Gold Award — Multichannel, $10 million and over)
Heal Children, Heal Detroit 2013 Year-End Multichannel Appeal
The Children’s Center
(Submitted by The Children’s Center)

The Numbers
Recipients: 4,157
Response rate: 4.2 percent
Total cost: $9,932
Income generated: $90,287
Average gift: $520
Cost to raise a dollar: $0.11

I can usually predict the ultimate Campaign of the Year winners by the number of gasps and “wows” I hear as the judges mull over particular entries — as well as the amount of furious note-scribbling going on. When I heard one of our judges say, “This gives me chills,” followed by a round of hearty agreement, I suspected we had a winner. And the final judging bore out my suspicions.

The campaign at hand was The Children’s Center’s Heal Children, Heal Detroit multichannel appeal. Powerful imagery of children that balances their beauty and potential with the seriousness of their situation is just the start of the long line of winning elements in this campaign.