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:

Pamela Barden

Vice President/Group Director

Russ Reid

At Russ Reid, Pamela leads the direct response work for one of the nation’s largest organizations. Prior to joining Russ Reid, Pamela spent nearly three decades in the not-for-profit community, leading and growing the development programs for mid-sized nonprofits, responsible for all fundraising activities: direct mail; newsletters; Internet fundraising; telemarketing; direct mail, television and radio acquisition; major gift solicitation; planned giving marketing and advertising and the annual fund. Combining analysis with solid direct response, Pamela has identified direct mail strategies that resulted in significant growth in contribution income and active contributors. Pamela has a B.A. in communications and an MBA in Information Systems, and is currently on the board of the Center for Community and Family Services, a Pasadena-based not-for-profit.

John Seiber

Director of Development

Heal the Bay

John has been overseeing Direct Marketing programs for the past seven years for AIDS Project Los Angeles, Project Angel Food and currently with Heal the Bay. In all, he has secured approximately $8 million through acquisition, renewals, special appeals and telemarketing. Direct marketing is often the first indicator of economic conditions and public sentiment. For seven years he worked almost daily with external consultants at Mal Warwick & Associates, Adams Hussey & Associates, Response Management Technologies and various other firms and telemarketers to increase revenue and decrease costs. His experience includes creative, list ordering, messaging, budgeting and segmentation for three agencies that rely heavily on direct marketing not only for fundraising, but for critical communication with their donor base.

Ingrid Steiner

Sales Executive

The Castle Press

Ingrid Steiner, Sales Executive at the Castle Press, began her printing industry experience as a Customer Service Representative working with major corporate and financial accounts. At the Castle Press for the last six years, she has specialized in development and marketing collateral and consulted on direct mail campaigns for nonprofits and educational organizations, ranging from UCLA to small start-ups. Ingrid holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and certificates in Marketing and in Fundraising and Institutional Development from UCLA. Additionally, she is certified as a Mail Quality Control Specialist with the United States Post Office. Ingrid has lectured and taught on topics ranging from Direct Mail to Printing 101 throughout Southern California at UCLA Extension, AFP-GLAC and the Center for Nonprofit Management. She is an active member on the Boards of the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Greater Los Angeles and the Reef Check Foundation.

Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles 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 at the Golden Eagle building, which is located in the center of the Cal State Los Angeles Campus. The plenary session will take place in the Golden Eagle Ballroom which is located on the third floor. The Golden Eagle building is easy to reach by public or private transportation. The full address of the university is 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032

Public Transportation
The Golden Eagle building is accessible by Metrolink or Bus.

Metrolink: The Metrolink station is called Cal State LA and is located at the south end of campus below the MTA busway. The San Bernardino line is the route to CSULA and has stations in San Bernardio, Rialto, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Montclair, Claremont, Pomona North, Covina, Baldwin Park, and El Monte.

Metro Bus Line: To find the bus lines that go to CSULA from your location, please go to www.Metro.net and put in the address you are coming from with the destination of CSULA. It will give you a list of all the bus routes to campus from your location.

Directions by Car

From Westside (approximately 30 to 45 minutes):
If traveling from Westside take the 10 (Santa Monica/San Bernardino) Freeway east. After the downtown interchange, you will see signs announcing the 710 Freeway. You will not be taking the 710, BUT when you see the signs, you must make your way to the extreme right lane to exit at Eastern Ave. The Eastern Ave. exit is about 500 yards before the 710. After exiting at Eastern Ave., make a left turn at the stoplight. Take the bridge across the freeway and continue straight on to the campus, crossing State University Drive. Go past the stop sign at Campus Road (about 300 yards from University Drive), to Paseo Rancho Castilla (PRC), the western edge of campus and continue north on PRC. Make a right onto Circle Drive for Parking Structure C (across from the Luckman Complex). If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)/ Long Beach - (approx. 30 minutes):
If traveling from LAX: take the 105 (Anderson) Freeway to the 710 (Long Beach) Freeway north. If traveling from the Long Beach area: take the 710 (Long Beach) Freeway north. Go to the end of the 710, and make a left (west) onto Valley Blvd. Continue to Mariondale; make a left on Mariondale. Proceed to traffic light. To reach Parking Structure C, make a right onto Paseo Ranch Castilla (PRC) and continue on toward the south end of campus; the parking structure will be to your left (enter on Circle Drive), across from the Luckman Complex. ). If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Orange County (approx. 1 to 1 1/2 hour - San Diego approx. 2 to 2 1/2 hours):
If traveling from Orange Country take the 5 Freeway north to the 710 Freeway north. Go to the end of the 710, and make a left (west) onto Valley Blvd. Continue to Mariondale; make a left on Mariondale. Proceed to traffic light. To reach Parking Structure C, make a right onto Paseo Ranch Castilla (PRC) and continue on toward the south end of campus; the parking structure will be to your left (enter on Circle Drive), across from the Luckman Complex. If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Pasadena (approx. 25-35 minutes):
If traveling from Pasadena using surface streets, take Los Robles Ave. south (becomes Atlantic Blvd.) Follow Atlantic to Valley Blvd., and make a right (west) on Valley. Or take surface streets to Fremont Ave. south; make right (west) onto Valley. Continue to Mariondale; make a left onto Mariondale and continue to traffic light. To reach Parking Structure C, make a right onto Paseo Ranch Castilla (PRC) and continue on toward the south end of campus; the parking structure will be to your left (enter on Circle Drive), across from the Luckman Complex. If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Pasadena using the freeway, take the 110 south to the 5 south to the 10 (San Bernardino Freeway east. Watch for signs announcing the 710 Freeway. You will not be taking the 710, BUT, when you see the signs, you must make your way to the extreme right lane to exit at Eastern Ave. The Eastern Ave. exit is about 500 yards before the 710. After exiting at Eastern Ave., make a left turn at the stoplight. Take the bridge across the freeway, and continue straight onto the campus, crossing State University Drive. Go past the stop sign at Campus Road (about 300 yards from University Drive), and you are on Paseo Rancho Castilla (PRC), the western edge of campus. Continue north on PRC. Make a right onto Circle Drive for Parking Structure C (across from the Luckman Complex). If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Burbank (approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour):
If traveling from Burbank take the 5 Freeway south to the 10 (San Bernardino) Freeway east. (Take the exit to the 10 Freeway towards San Bernardino that is on your left. Merge onto the 10 Freeway going east). Watch for signs announcing the 710 freeway. You will not be taking the 710, BUT, when you see the signs you must make your way to the extreme right lane to exit at Eastern Ave. The Eastern Ave. exit is about 500 yards before the 710. After exiting at Eastern Ave., make a left turn at the stoplight. Take the bridge across the freeway, and continue straight onto the campus, crossing State University Drive. Go past the stop sign at Campus Road (about 300 yards from University Drive), and you are on Paseo Rancho Castilla (PRC), the western edge of campus. Continue north on PRC. Make a right onto Circle Drive for Parking Structure C (across from the Luckman Complex). If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From San Bernardino (approx. 1 1/2 hour)
If traveling from San Bernardino take the 10 Freeway (San Bernardino) west; exit at Fremont Ave. Make an immediate left at the stop sign on Hellman Ave. Continue on Hellman, which becomes Paseo Rancho Castilla (PRC), continue toward the south end of campus on PRC. The Parking Structure C will be to your left, across from the Luckman Complex. Enter on Circle Drive. If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

Parking at the The Golden Eagle
Visitor parking is located in Parking Structure C or in Lot 5 behind it. Parking costs $6.00 per day. Exact change is required at the electronic parking kiosk. To get from Parking Structure C or Lot 5 to the Golden Eagle building you need to walk through Luckman Theatre Complex. The Golden Eagle building is straight behind the Luckman Theatre Complex.

Hotel Accommodations
Most hotels near the Summit venue are within the $159-$269 per night range. The following hotels are within a five-mile radius of the hotel.
1.    Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens    BOOK NOW      4.14 miles from venue
2.    Hilton Los Angeles San Gabriel    BOOK NOW       4.15 miles from venue
3.    Doubletree Hotel LA/Commerce   BOOK NOW       4.19 miles from venue
4.    Crowne Plaza Hotel LA Commerce Casino         BOOK NOW       4.68 miles from venue

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