photoLast week was sure one to remember.

The 9th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference was an indisputable success - from empowering keynote speakers to an amazing educational program to networking opportunities to reconnect with old friends and make new industry connections.

Mal Warwick Donordigital was thrilled to sponsor such an extraordinary conference.

Our week began at the 35th Annual Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW) MAXI Awards. Established in 1979, the MAXI Awards program recognizes and honors outstanding achievements in the field of direct marketing. We were honored to receive five separate awards for our work with our clients:

  • AIDS Project Los Angeles (Gold)
  • National Organization for Women (Gold)
  • Ocean Conservancy (Silver and Bronze)
  • Women for Women (Silver).

We were excited to have our clients join us to accept the awards and for a celebratory dinner afterwards.

To view samples of our winning campaigns, click here.

Thursday and Friday at the Gaylord National Harbor, brought session after session of direct marketing study, tactics and wisdom to share with our clients to enhance their fundraising programs. A few great nuggets our team heard over and over include:

  • Don’t try to upgrade the donors until you did everything you promised (premium offers, special invites, updates etc).
  • Donor testimonials strategically placed on a web page, in newsletters, etc, can help overcome monthly giving hurdles.
  • Optimize - do as much donation form optimization testing as possible and make sure that all donation forms and emails are mobile optimized!
  • Send regular/quarterly Sustainer upgrade emails to current Sustainers with multiple buttons for upgrade amounts: $2, $4, etc.

The week was also about fun and relaxation and one the highlights for me was hosting our clients, partners and friends for a happy hour on the water front. We talked fundraising strategy and industry gossip while watching the summer storm roll in over the Potomac and Capital Wheel. The storm gave way to a beautiful sunset captured by Greg Albright from Production Solutions.

So, save the date for the 10th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference to be held back at the beautiful National Harbor from July 7-9, 2015.

photo-thumbnail-daveDave Dogan is a Vice President at Mal Warwick Donordigital.