Russ Reid

FundRaising Success magazine, the country's leading publication focused on all things fundraising, is pleased to announce the winners of its 2011 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence. Top prize this year went to the World Vision Back to School Bounceback "Flight" package, which won Package of the Year and the Gold Award in the Direct Mail category.

This sustainer/upgrade effort from Russ Reid on behalf of World Vision U.S. is engaging, colorful and just plain fun … and the 2011 Package of the Year.

Ted Hart discusses government funding with Mark McIntyre, senior vice president of federal funding and advocacy at Russ Reid, on the Nonprofit Coach.

Four fundraising experts discussed donor giving trends and what they mean for fundraisers at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater New York Chapter's Fund Raising Day in New York. Margaret Holman, president of Holman Consulting, tackled individual giving.

Different kinds of donors tend to support different kinds of charitable causes, a new study says.

Only a minority of religious donors support specifically religious work through nonprofits, for example, while black donors are twice as likely as white donors to support higher education, and the causes people choose to support often are quite dependent on their political views, says Heart of the Donor, a study commissioned by Russ Reid and conducted by Grey Matter Research & Consulting.

Los Angeles-based Brewer Direct has inked agency of record agreements to manage direct response fundraising programs for the Kansas City Rescue Mission and Gospel Rescue Ministries of Washington D.C. The additions bring the agency’s roster of Rescue Mission clients to 18 nationwide.

Work for the Kansas City Rescue Mission will focus on developing a new, fully integrated donor acquisition strategy. For Gospel Rescue Ministries, Brewer Direct will design, implement and manage end-to-end direct response fundraising campaigns across multiple channels.

When the Southeast Texas Food Bank was incorporated in 1991, it did no fundraising whatsoever, it had two donor names (the executive director and a board member) and its budget was around $700,000. Today, it has 25,000 donor names in its database and an operating budget of $1.9 million.

When the Southeast Texas Food Bank was incorporated in 1991, it did no fundraising whatsoever, it had two donor names (the executive director and a board member) and its budget was around $700,000. Today, it has 25,000 donor names in its database and an operating budget of $1.9 million.

Houses of worship and other charities often aren't in competition for dollars but instead tend to reap donations from similar donors, a new study shows. Slightly more than 50 percent of people who financially supported congregations also gave to at least one charitable organization in the last year, according to a study conducted by Phoenix-based Grey Matter Research Consulting.

Researchers also found that the more Americans give to a house of worship, the more they donate to other groups. And the trend continues with the generosity of the donor.

The primary objective of direct-response fundraising is to acquire and cultivate donors to generate the maximum net income for nonprofit programs over the long haul. But precious few direct-response fundraising campaigns these days accomplish that objective. Hence the budget problems of so many nonprofits — the cutbacks, the turnover in development staff and the lack of funds to accomplish the mission.