Center For NonProfit Success

Direct mail fundraising

Do pledge drives represent the bulk of your fundraising efforts? It’s time to consider more effective, more affordable direct mail campaigns. Done correctly, a direct mail campaign can be your most cost-effective and productive fundraising tool. On the other hand, if you miss the mark, your direct mail campaign could flounder or even hurt your reputation amongst your target donors. You need to develop a long-term plan for your direct mail campaign that can help you attract donors, retain donors and build relationships.

Topics we will cover include:

Mastering the what, where and how of direct mail
Integrating direct mail with your annual campaign
Using direct mail to grow your donor base and increase the size of average gifts
The value of direct mail in identifying and cultivating major donors on your mailing list

This session will ground you in the fundamentals of direct mail fundraising and give you a solid plan as well as usable tools to develop your own comprehensive direct mail program. It is intended for fundraisers of all levels.

Speakers for this session:

Diane Evans

V.P. Fundraising

DMW Worldwide

Diane joined DMW in April 2000, after spending over 20 years as either a volunteer or on staff at MPTV Friends ((the fundraising arm of Milwaukee Public Television.) She served on the staff of the MPTV Friends for eight years, managing the membership department for the Friends. At DMW Worldwide, Diane manages membership and donor programs for public broadcasting stations as well as being the editor of a public broadcasting newsletter for stations. Diane is a member of AFP and a conference speaker for PBS. Diane graduated from Alverno College (Milwaukee, WI) with a double major in business management and professional communication.

Betsey Hartford

President

Signature Communications

Betsey Hartford is a direct marketing strategist and writer. Betsey began her career in direct mail 20 years ago, and was mentored by public television fundraising guru Dick McPherson, whose fundraising "co-op" included WGBH-TV in Boston and WHYY in Philadelphia. There she honed her skills in campaign development, list research and acquisition, targeting and testing strategies, direct mail print and mail production management, and writing effective, targeted letters. Today, she works with clients in higher education and the nonprofit sector. Betsey has an M.A, in creative writing from Boston University, and lives in Milton, MA. She is a frequent speaker on direct mail marketing and production.

Boston Fundraising Summit

A relationship approach to fundraising
Nonprofit fundraising has become highly specialized, and each segment of your donor market requires a different set of relationship management skills. Whether you are reaching out to private foundations, wealthy individuals or your own members, you need to understand who they give to, and why. The Boston Summit focuses on the relationship aspects of fundraising, and offers you several ways to enhance your relationship management skills:

Day One:
In the morning, listen to a panel of private, corporate and community grantmakers who will openly discuss their philosophy on grantmaking, how they operate, and most important, how you can build a more successful relationship with the grantmaking community. In the afternoon, participate in seminars led by experienced grant seekers who have successfully secured many foundation grants, and have built successful relationships with the grantmaking community.

Day Two:
Attend a series of fundraising seminars covering the hottest areas of fundraising (capital campaigns, major gifts, annual giving campaigns, and many more). Panels of experts will discuss the latest developments in these fields, and then enter into a dialogue with the participants that addresses their most pressing questions.

WHY ATTEND THE FUNDRAISING SUMMIT?
Fundraising is primarily a relationship business, and with increasing pressures facing all nonprofit professionals to build key relationships, it is becoming more important, though much more difficult to meet people face-to-face. Our innovative Summit format provides the most efficient and cost effective use of time away from the office by enabling attendees to interact with experts in the field, as well as other nonprofit leaders.

CAN ONE ATTEND SPECIFIC SESSIONS ONLY?
We understand the demands that are placed on you and on your time. That’s why you can attend only the seminars that are of interest to you. Come for the day or stop by for a couple of hours. You pay for only the seminars you wish to attend and only for the information relevant to you. It’s a novel approach to learning that allows you to get exactly what you’re looking for in a short amount of time.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE SEMINARS?
Each seminar features a panel of 3-4 experts who will give a short overview of the key developments in that field. After that , we will move into a moderated discussion to explore what these developments mean for nonprofit organizations. During the seminar, panelists will engage with the audience in an interactive manner to ensure the real-world implications of these developments emerge, and the session will end with a summary of practical next steps.

HOW IS THE SUMMIT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER EDUCATIONAL EVENTS?
The Summit offers a unique format to help you accomplish the following:

Build relationships: to ensure maximum exposure to the experts and other nonprofit leaders, each seminar offers structured networking before the session starts
Hear different perspectives: the experts are drawn from different sectors of the nonprofit community to ensure cross-pollination of ideas and practices
Provide a global view: speakers give an overview of key issues so that you can eliminate any gaps in your understanding of the subject
Drill down to the specifics: speakers will also focus on providing specific answers to real-world questions that are common to most attendees
Obtain information you can use: the emphasis in all sessions is on avoiding theoretical discussions in favor of practical tools and techniques that nonprofit leaders can actually use

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUMMIT?
The Summit is organized by the Center for Nonprofit Success, a nonprofit organization that specializes in bringing highly relevant information that nonprofit leaders need to run their organizations successfully. We developed the Fundraising Summit series as a follow-on to the Nonprofit Success Forum, a highly successful educational series on grantmaking that has been taking place around the country for the past two years. The Fundraising Summit drills down into specific areas of fundraising to give nonproft leaders cutting edge tools and techniques.

HOW DO I REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT?
Simply click on the seminars listed below to learn more about the topics that will be covered in each seminar. Then select only those seminars that you wish to attend.

Location/Directions

The Summit will take place in the east wing of the Main College Building on the Simmons College Campus. Registration will be setup outside the Linda K. Paresky Conference Center on the third floor of the Main College Building. Simmons College is located only 6 miles from Logan International Airport and is easily accessible by public transportation. The full address is:

Simmons College
300 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115

Public Transportation
The Main College Building is accessible by both MBTA Train service (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) and by MBTA bus service.

If Traveling by MBTA Train
MBTA Green Line E train (Jamaica Plain to Cambridge through Boston) outbound Heath Street/Arborway to the Simmons stop (Museum at Huntington Ave & Louis Prang).
Connections: Red, Blue, and Orange Lines, and commuter rail at North Station.
At the Museum Stop, exit train and take a right onto Louis Prang Street. Walk past the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The Main College Building, 300 The Fenway, will be on left.

Directions by Car
If Traveling from the West (also NYC and CT)
If traveling from the West take Route 90 east (Massachusetts Turnpike/Mass Pike) to exit 18. Exit from left lane. Bear right. Follow signs for Cambridge. The Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel will be on your right. Turn right at first light onto Storrow Drive to Boston. Follow local directions below.

If Traveling from the South (Route 3, Southeast Expressway)
If traveling from the South take Route 3 north (Southeast Expressway) to Storrow Drive. Follow Storrow Drive west. Follow local directions below.

If Traveling from the North (Route I-93 or Route 1)
If traveling from the North on Route 1-93 or Route 1, at the merge with Route 3 (the Southeast Expressway), take Storrow Drive exit. Follow Storrow Drive west. Follow local directions below.

If Traveling from Logan International Airport (6.5 miles)
If traveling from Logan International Airport take 1A south to I-93/Sumner Tunnel/Boston. Go through Sumner Tunnel. Follow sign to I-93 north. Sign will say "93 North, Storrow Drive, Cambridge." Stay in right lane and take second exit - exit 26. Sign will say "Back Bay, Storrow Drive." Stay left and follow sign for Storrow and drive west. Once on Storrow, stay in center lane and proceed approximately 2 miles, then get in left lane. Follow local directions below.

Local Directions
Look for sign "Kenmore Square, Fenway, Route 1 South" and exit left, following sign for "Fenway 1 South." Do not take Kenmore Square exit. Instead, follow ramp up and exit right. Sign will say "Boylston St. Outbound, Riverway 1." You will be on Boylston Street. Stay in left lane and proceed to first light. Turn left onto Park Drive. Follow Park Drive to second light and cross Boylston Street and Brookline Avenue. Stay left. At third stoplight, bear left following "Fenway" sign. At fourth light, continue straight, crossing Brookline Avenue again. You will be on "The Fenway”. Turn right onto Avenue Louis Pasteur right after Emmanuel College. Simmons’s Parking Garage sign is on left, about 1/2 block down.

Parking at the Main College Building
Due to limited parking in the urban area around Simmons, we encourage visitors to use alternative transportation when commuting to Simmons. Limited parking is available on nearby streets and private garages. There are three parking garages in the area:

Simmons Garage [P1 on map]
6 Avenue Louis Pasteur
Boston, MA 02115

Directions to Simmons Garage from Route 90:
Take Route 90 East (Massachusetts Turnpike) to Exit 22. Stay left and follow signs marked "Prudential Center/West 9.” Stay on Huntington Ave. west approximately 1 mile. Pass Museum of Fine Arts on right, then turn right at next light on Louis Prang St. Continue through two lights. The main building of Simmons will be on left. Turn left on Avenue Louis Pasteur. Proceed past the Simmons’s library and the Park Science Bldg which will be on the left. Enter the next driveway on the left where there is a sign that reads, Simmons Garage. The entrance is between the Boston Latin School and the Park Science Center. The road dead ends at the parking garage.

Daily Rate:
$12.00 per car. They only take credit card. At the end of the day you need to get a parking coupon from the registration table to give to the parking attendant. This lot can only accommodate 40 cars on a first come first served basis.

Walking Directions to Main College Building:
Go right out of the Simmons Garage onto Avenue Louis Pasteur. Turn right on The Fenway. The Main College Building will be on the right.

Landmark Center Garage [P2 on map]
401 Park Drive
Boston, MA 02115
617-927-0398
.5 miles/1 minute drive to Main College Building

Directions to Landmark Center Garage: Head Southwest on Park Dr to lot at Brookline Avenue and Park.

Hourly Rates:
1-1.5 hrs $5
2-2.5 hrs. $9
2.5-18 hrs. $15

They accept cash and credit cards.

Walking Directions to Main College Building:
As you exit the parking garage walk down Brookline Avenue and take a left at the street called, "The Fenway" where there is a sign that says Emmanuel College. Continue on “The Fenway.” Continue walking straight past Avenue Louis Pasteur and you will arrive at the Main College Building, at 300 The Fenway.

Trilogy Garage [P3 on map]
180 Brookline Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
There are entrances on Brookline Ave. and Kilmarnock Street
617-236-5558
0.6 mi – about 1 min drive to Main College Building

Directions to Garage: Head southwest on Brookline Ave and just past Kilmanarock Street you will see the garage.

Special Rates: Early Bird (enter before 9am - exit by 7pm) $12; nights (enter after 4pm - exit by 8am) $5.00
Hourly Rates:
1 hr. or less $5
2 hrs. or less $10
3 hrs. or less $15
4 hrs. or more $20

They accept cash and credit cards.

Walking Directions to Main College Building:
As you exit the parking garage walk down Brookline Avenue and take a left at the street called, "The Fenway" where there is a sign that says Emmanuel College. Continue on “The Fenway.” Continue walking straight past Avenue Louis Pasteur and you will arrive at the Main College Building, at 300 The Fenway.

Hotel Accommodations
Most hotels near the Summit venue are within the $175-265 per night range. The following hotels are within a one-mile radius of the hotel.

1. Hotel Commonwealth                                BOOK NOW                       .67 miles from venue
2. Sheraton Boston Hotel            BOOK NOW     .89 miles from venue
3. Hilton Boston Back Bay                            BOOK NOW                        .9 miles from venue
4. Holiday Inn Brookline                                BOOK NOW                        .9 miles from venue
5. Hyatt Regency Cambridge            BOOK NOW                        1 mile from venue

Register Now

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