Direct Marketing Association

DMW Direct, a leading direct response advertising agency, today announced that effective January 1, 2012, Debbie Merlino will be appointed President of DMW Direct Fundraising — a division of the company which serves non-profit organizations nationwide in support of their fundraising and membership-building programs. Current President Tom Hurley will continue to play a key role, serving as a Senior Advisor to the business.

Recent tweets from folks you should be following.

The DMA Nonprofit Federation is very pleased to announce that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the 2011 recipient of its prestigious Nonprofit Organization of the Year Award. 

On Wednesday evening, the Direct Marketing Association of Washington presented its annual MAXI Awards on the eve of the 2011 Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Md.

Infogroup announced that Gretchen Littlefield has been named to the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation’s (DMANF) Advisory Council for the 2011-2013 term that begins July 1. Littlefield is the only incoming member from the private sector.

In addition to serving a two year term, Littlefield will become co-chair of DMANF’s Government Affairs Committee. In this capacity, she will serve as an advocate for nonprofits on Capitol Hill and advance the legislative interests of the fundraising community. Littlefield drives the overall management, strategic planning, and growth of Infogroup’s offerings to the nonprofit, political and federal government sectors.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), through its ethics committees and board, announced it has modified and updated its Guidelines for Ethical Business Practices. The guidelines now include new provisions for social-media marketers, changes reflecting the passage of new laws and updated material addressing consumers’ recent concerns.

The guidelines provide individuals and organizations involved in the full spectrum of direct-marketing channels with generally accepted principles of conduct.

Grizzard Communications Group announced that it has hired Karen E. Gleason as group vice president and senior strategist. Gleason will be responsible for leadership on national accounts and developing strategies for multichannel fundraising for a variety of clients.

On May 19, FundRaising Success will host its second annual virtual conference and expo: Engaging, Enlightening, Empowering Donors. Did we mention it's FREE? Each week until then, we'll be publishing bios of our featured speakers. Today: Kristin McCurry.

There are four major online communications tools that every fundraiser should take advantage of — event marketing, social-media marketing, e-mail marketing and online surveys — according to Erik Mintz, director of event marketing at nonprofit software provider Constant Contact.

The Direct Marketing Association’s Email Experience Council and Epsilon today released the Q4 2010 North America Email Trends and Benchmarks Results, which show an increase in conversion rates of 16.1 percent over Q4 2009.  The 2.9 percent conversion rate is the strongest over a two-year period.