Katie Brown, Direct Marketing Manager, International Fund for Animal Welfare

I was graciously awarded a grant through the DMFA to attend this year’s Bridge Conference in Washington, DC. This grant allowed me to access invaluable educational sessions on fundraising tactics and best practices given by leaders in the nonprofit fundraising industry. It allowed me to converge with fellow fundraisers to network and connect, to meet potential new partners, and discuss common problems and troubleshoot solutions with the best marketing minds from around the country.

I attended sessions with experts from organizations (and including case studies from) such as Oceana, Alzheimer’s Association, No Kid Hungry, American Indian College Fund, and others. Agency leaders from companies like Synergy, Concord Direct, RWT, and Moore partnered with these nonprofits to lead informational sessions in a melding of the minds that any up-and-coming fundraiser worth their salt would want to attend.

Key Take Aways:

• Potential paper tests to highlight my organization’s conservation work, including using a plastic-free OE that call out how that kind of envelope keeps ocean animals safe, or teasers we could try as part of our acquisition control tests.
• The importance of modeling and targeting, how direct mail should essentially strive to be as specific as digital nowadays to combat rising costs and donor attrition throughout the nonprofit sector.
• Ideas regarding messaging, to be more authentic in the way we speak to donors, and to really hone in on the positive messaging we want donors to tell themselves when they consider making a gift to our organizations.

I also attended a session about Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), a new and confusing concept to me, since we have been trying to incorporate more attention to DAF giving in our DM programs as well. The insights I learned from that session could help our midlevel and major donor team provide additional avenues and incentives for more donors at those high giving levels to give more easily.

Overall, without the grant funding I received from DMFA through their Professional Development Fund, my attendance to the Bridge Conference would have had to have been through my nonprofit’s tight budget. But because this funding exists for fundraisers who are still learning and growing in the nonprofit industry, this incredible opportunity was afforded to me, benefitting both me as a fundraising professional and my organization for investing in my growth and future success.

Houda Lazrak, Senior Officer, Bridge Giving, International Rescue Committee

I’m deeply grateful to the DMFA for awarding me a Professional Development Fund scholarship to attend the Bridge 2025 Conference. As a Senior Officer in Bridge Giving at the International Rescue Committee, this opportunity allowed me to engage with forward thinking strategies in donor engagement, retention, and integrated fundraising. I attended a total of seven sessions over two days, gaining insights that will help me drive upgrades and innovation in my own fundraising work.

• A deeper understanding of how to leverage Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) to grow mid-level giving.
• Information on how targeted messaging across direct mail packages, thoughtful segmentation, and high-touch outreach can significantly increase DAF donor engagement—especially during year-end campaigns. These insights will help me better recognize and steward this key donor segment.
• Data-driven personalization through package segmented and learning about other organizations’ modeling tools to better understand donor preferences and tailor fundraising packages accordingly, which in turn yields higher ROIs.
• Aligning donor experience with organizational goals can lead to improved donor lifetime giving value.
• Benchmarking my work with other non-profits who are pursuing multichannel fundraising reaffirmed the importance of how timely, visual, and mission-driven messaging across several channels boosts donor engagement and response.
• I learned about how other organizations are adapting to reach donors across platforms when donor data is not available in one channel but it available in other. This includes direct mail, broadcast SMS, P2P SMS, paid media, and telemarketing.

Beyond the sessions, the conference offered invaluable networking opportunities. I connected with colleagues across the fundraising and nonprofit sector, exchanging ideas and challenges that enriched my perspective. I also had the chance to meet face-to-face with several vendors I’ve worked with remotely, strengthening those relationships and gaining deeper insight into their tools and services. I’ll be able to take what I learned and apply it directly to my work, making me a more savvy and effective fundraiser.

Thank you again to DMFA for making this experience possible. Your support is helping fundraisers like me grow, innovate, and raise more funds for worthy and important causes.