Mathews

We caught up with some of the speakers at the DMA Nonprofit Federation 2009 New York Conference last week, and they were kind enough to share some of their best tip on camera.

We caught up with some of the speakers at the DMA Nonprofit Federation 2009 New York Conference last week, and they were kind enough to share some of their best tip on camera.

Ellen Cobb Church, principal and CEO of Craver, Mathews, Smith & Co., Marjorie Spitz-Nagrotsky, director of development for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Heather Wallace, director of marketing for City Harvest, share quick tips for nonprofits on how to survive and thrive in turbulent times, which they presented a session on at the DMANF's 2009 New York Nonprofit Conference.

PACKAGE OF THE YEAR Gold: Habitat for Humanity International Special Development Appeal (Craver, Mathews, Smith & Co.) Silver: Rhode Island Community Food Bank Annual Review Brochure (DaVinci Direct) Bronze (Tie): Tuskegee Airmen — Charles McGee Campaign (Fundraising Strategies) CARE November/December World Report (Merkle) ACQUISITION (50,000 OR MORE MAILED) Gold: Utah Food Bank 2007 Thanksgiving Donor Acquisition (L.W. Robbins) Silver: Wildlife Conservation Spring 2007 Acquisition (Schultz & Williams) Bronze: Mail Call Hurts (Gum Version) (Fundraising Strategies) ACQUISITION (FEWER THAN 50,000 MAILED) Gold: Tuskegee Airmen — Charles McGee (Fundraising Strategies) Silver: Bidawee “Welcome” (SCA DIrect) Bronze: Adaptive Clothing Gift Tag Package (Fundraising Strategies) RENEWAL (50,000

Wow! Who ever thought the Gold Awards could be so exciting? The sun was setting on judgement day, and we had a tie for Package of the Year. A first! So, I polled our four judges — Steve Froehlich, director of development analytics at the ASPCA; Tim O’Leary, vice president of McPherson Associates; Paul Bobnak, director of North American Publishing Co.’s Who’s Mailing What! Archive; and FS Senior Editor Abny Santicola. After some soul searching and spirited debate, they weighed in: two for one package and the other two for the other package.

In the struggle to retain donors, nonprofits need to use the full arsenal of tools that are available to them. Blogging is just one more way for a nonprofit organization to reach the community of people that are interested in its cause. Nonprofit guru Roger Craver is founder of Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit and advocacy marketing agency Craver, Mathews, Smith & Co. and co-creator of the blog The Agitator. He says he enjoys blogging because it forces him to stay up to speed on the latest research and trends in the industry. The Agitator covers areas nonprofit professionals should be thinking about