MAXI AwardMal Warwick Donordigital is thrilled to celebrate several exciting client successes as the recipient of seven Direct Marketing Association of Washington 2017 MAXI Awards, which were presented at the 11th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference on August 2, 2017.

Established in 1979, the MAXI Awards program recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of direct marketing. All entries are judged on six criteria: results, strategy, copy, design/format, production, and innovation — with the most weight placed on performance.

We are proud to announce 2017 MAXI Awards for these highly effective campaigns:

Gold Award: Mercy For Animals Fall Proposal Appeal
(Nonprofit Special Appeal, Direct Mail Campaign)

The objective of this mail appeal was to raise funds for Mercy For Animals’ programs from a donor audience that was largely acquired through online and event channels. Our strategy to capture these donors’ attention was one of targeted segmentation combined with emotional messaging and imagery. Knowing these donors are passionate about animals suffering in factory farms, we tailored this proposal around very specific farm factory practices and the defense of Mercy For Animals’ legal right to expose these cruelties. We included multiple images and added a program monetary goal to encourage larger gifts. This brand new mailing significantly outperformed revenue targets and will become a staple of the MFA program due to its overwhelming success.

Silver Award: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals R1 Membercard
(Nonprofit Renewal, Direct Mail Campaign)

The first effort in PETA’s annual renewal series has historically raised more funds for animals than any other renewal or appeal in the program. After some softness in results, we set out to find an enhancement that would improve response. This membercard package has traditionally featured a design that incorporates multiple animals, reflective of PETA's mission. We proposed deviating to feature a single animal saved with the help of PETA donors — an adorable rescued rabbit from their very popular calendar. This strategy was a huge success, resulting in significantly more donors renewing their memberships. While PETA remains dedicated to protecting all animals in their work and featuring them in fundraising, this test shows the power of a single animal image for their supporters.

Silver Award: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Vanguard Society Invitation Vivisection Match Campaign
(Nonprofit Major Donor, Direct Mail Campaign)

PETA has historically mailed a matching gift campaign in the Fall to their Vanguard Society members. After experiencing some declines in 2015, we were challenged with creating an innovative package that would boost overall performance of the campaign. Our strategy was to create a package that would tangibly illustrate the suffering and abuse inflicted on dogs in laboratories at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California, while also providing donors with ways they could take action. We implemented a strategy that included a file folder with impactful intake forms from the animal test lab, and included a petition for donors to take action. This content-rich, high-impact format engaged these special donors, resulting in one of the most successful Vanguard Society appeals of the year.

Silver Award: International Medical Corps Update from the Field Appeal
(Nonprofit Special Appeal, Direct Mail Campaign)

IMC had traditionally mailed an appeal in March focused on International Women’s Day, but it wasn’t a strong performer. Our goal was to find a topic that was more engaging to their donors and provided better results to fund their important work. Assuming supporters would like to know more about IMC’s work on the ground, we developed an appeal that was told from the perspective of their communications officer, talking about some of the amazing people working in the field helping people with their donors’ support. We used her field experience in Haiti to highlight IMC workers in action under extreme conditions. We packaged it in an intriguing, international-looking envelope to stand out in the mailbox and donors responded! It far outperformed the prior International Women’s Day efforts, which meant more funds could be allocated to helping people in need.  

Bronze Award: National Organization for Women Holiday Card
(Nonprofit Special Appeal, Direct Mail Campaign)

NOW Foundation mails a holiday card in November each year to provide donors with a last opportunity to give a tax-deductible gift in the calendar year and to extend holiday greetings.  Because this campaign mails so close to the election, we created two versions to be at the ready — one celebrating an historic moment welcoming our first woman president and another we never thought we’d need, acknowledging a Trump win and the threats ahead. Once the devastating news was in, we quickly adjusted the Trump version to reflect the mood of the country. This super timely message resonated with NOW members, who cast off their despair and threw their support behind NOW Foundation and the battles ahead in dramatic numbers.

Bronze Award: Americares Year-End Booklet
(Nonprofit Special Appeal, Direct Mail Campaign)

The objective of this campaign was to extend a special thank you to donors before the very busy year-end season. In the past Americares has mailed a DVD at this time of year, which meant we could only reach the highest value donors. Our goal was to send something equally visual and impactful that would allow us to reach more of Americares’ loyal donors. Instead of mailing a DVD, we created a booklet of video stills with captions, highlighting a family in El Salvador. We reached a much wider audience and the incredible response from donors was heartwarming, providing substantially more funds for Americares’ critical work than prior years and inspiring some lapsed donors to rejoin the mission.

Melissa Ford is a Vice President with Mal Warwick Donordigital, the integrated fundraising, marketing, and advertising company.