Direct mail fundraising | San Francisco, CA

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:

Douglas Hupke

Director, Alumni Relations and Annual Fund

San Francisco State University

Doug Hupke was hired as the Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Fund at San Francisco State University in March, 2006 and responsible for the planning, organization, coordination and implementation of the alumni relations, parent relations and annual giving programs. Upon his hiring, Doug established the first comprehensive direct mail campaign in university history. Since its inception in 2006, the annual fund program has experienced a 217% increase in donor participation and an 83% increase in the average annual fund gift, all while reducing cost. Previously, Doug was the Associate Director of Athletics, Operations & Development at San Francisco State and he was responsible for all of the department’s fundraising, which included the department’s direct mail campaign and the establishment of the department’s first booster club. Doug has an MS, Counseling, from San Francisco State University and a BA, Psychology, from University of San Francisco.

Sarah Taft

Director of Membership

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Sarah Taft has worked in membership and development for fifteen years. She has handled all aspects of direct mail campaigns such as mailing strategies, writing copy, overseeing the design process, list selection, and data analysis. In her capacity as the Director of Membership at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (the de Young and the Legion of Honor), she administers a mailing campaign that includes over one million pieces annually. Direct mail accounts for approximately 60% of the revenue earned by the membership program each year. Sarah holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Journalism from San Francisco State University. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Bay Area Membership Managers Association.

Lynnette Teti

Director of the Annual Fund

UC Hastings Law

Lynnette Teti is the director of the Annual Fund at UC Hastings Law School, where she manages the Hastings Annual Fund, direct mail and email solicitations, reunion class campaigns, the 3L campaign, telemarketing program, and the Recent Alumni Advisory Panels. Lynnette works on all the Annual Fund appeals and emails that go out to the 18,000 alumni base. The Law School sends out 5-6 mailers a year along with 10 - 15 emails a year. Prior to assuming her role in 2006 at the law school, Lynnette was the associate director of graduate and communication programs at the University of Chicago for the Humanities, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences graduate divisions. Lynette earned a BA degree from UC Berkeley and an MA degree from Johns Hopkins University.

San Francisco 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 San Francisco 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 corporate and 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. In 2009, we are introducing a two-day pass so that attendees can attend all sessions at a reduced price.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE SEMINARS?
Each seminar features a panel of 3-4 experts who will break down the fundraising process into a series of phases with measurable outcomes and action steps for each phase. During the seminar, panelists will engage with the audience in an interactive manner to ensure that the sessions are educational and also fun to attend.

ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING SESSIONS
In 2009, we are adding an exciting new component to our Summits: one on mentoring sessions. In these 30 minute sessions, you can sit down with an experienced nonprofit fundraiser to discuss specific questions not addressed by the seminars. Mentoring sessions will cover the same topics as the seminar topics.

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 Event Center at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The registration tables will be located in the hallway outside of St. Francis Hall, which is located in the Events Center below St. Mary’s Cathedral. St. Mary’s Cathedral is easy to reach by public or private transportation. The full address is:

The Event Center
Saint Mary’s Cathedral
1111 Gough Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

Public Transportation
St. Mary’s Cathedral is accessible by both Muni Bus and BART.

Muni Bus: The Van Ness Station is the closest Muni stop. Take #38L route (not Limited), which runs along Geary or take #47 route or #49 route, which run along Hwy 101 to the Van Ness station. To walk from the Van Ness Station to St. Mary’s Cathedral, walk to the West (left) on Geary for two blocks. You will cross Franklin. St. Mary’s Cathedral is on the corner of Gough and Geary.

BART: The Civic Center Station is the closest BART stop and is 1.59 miles from St. Mary’s Cathedral. To walk from The Civic Center Station to St. Mary’s Cathedral, start out going southwest on Market Street toward Hyde Street. Turn right onto Hayes Street. Turn right onto Van Ness Ave/US-101. Turn left onto Geary Blvd. Turn right onto Franklin Street. Turn left onto Sutter Street. Turn left onto Gough Street.

Directions by Car

From East Bay (Bay Bridge)
If traveling from East Bay (Bay Bridge) take the 9th Street Exit. Go one block, and then turn right onto 9th Street. Stay in the two right lanes – 9th Street turns into Larkin. Stay on Larkin until Ellis and turn left. Just past Gough and the high school, make a right into the parking lot of the Cathedral.

From The Golden Gate Bridge
If traveling from The Golden Gate Bridge take the Lombard Street turnoff, continue on Lombard to Gough and turn right on Gough. Follow Gough across Geary. The parking lot has two driveways on the Gough street side of the Cathedral.

From the South Bay
If traveling from the South Bay you can take either 280 to Highway 101 North or take 101 North directly. From 101 North stay in the extreme left hand lane. Take the 9th Street Exit. Stay in the two right lanes – 9th Street turns into Larkin. Stay on Larkin until Ellis and turn left. Just past Gough and the high school, make a right into the parking lot of the Cathedral.

Parking at the St. Mary’s Cathedral
There is limited visitor parking in the lot at St. Mary’s Cathedral. It is free to park at the church. If the church lot is full, the closest parking is the Japan Center Main Garage located at 1610 Geary Blvd San Francisco, CA 94115 about 3 minutes/0.8 miles away.

Directions to Japan Center Main Garage: Go South on Gough Street. Turn left onto Eddy Street. Turn left onto Franklin Street. Turn left onto Geary Blvd.

Hourly Parking Rates at Japan Center Main Garage:
0-1 Hour $ 2.00
  1-2 Hours $ 4.00
  2-3 Hours $ 6.00
  3-4 Hours $ 8.00
  4-5 Hours $10.00
  5-6 Hours $12.00
  6-7 Hours $14.00
  7-24 Hours $16.00

All Day In and Out Rate     $ 16.00

Early bird special $ 10.00 per day (Must enter by 10:00 a.m. and exit before 10:00 p.m.)

Motorcycle (2 wheels)     $ 5.00 per day

Hotel Accommodations
Most hotels near the Summit venue are within the $139-$269 per night range. The following hotels are within a one-mile radius of the hotel.

1.    Cathedral Hill Hotel                       BOOK NOW              .19 miles from venue
2.    Hotel Kabuki                                 BOOK NOW               .23 miles from venue
3.    Holiday Inn Golden Gateway       BOOK NOW               .37 miles from venue

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One-on-one mentoring

Click on any seminar title or the arrow on the right side to learn more about that seminar

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