Bridge Conference to Attract Fundraisers and Integrated Marketing Pros

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketing executives, fundraisers and nonprofit professionals need to improve their effectiveness in helping organizations raise money and reach donors in the wake of the severe economic downturn that started in 2008. That's why thousands of them across the U.S. and Canada will be attending the 7th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference in Washington, D.C. August 7-9.

"The job of marketing is to find, keep and grow customers," said Laura Patterson, who will be speaking at the Bridge Conference and who manages Vision Edge Marketing of Austin, Texas. Her firm has been working for 12 years to help companies enhance their marketing efforts.

"This is a very complex time for customers. The media mix that people use to promote themselves is much more complicated, and optimizing that mix has never been more challenging," said Douglas Lynch, Managing General Partner of Lynchpin BioMedia, a content marketing and media communications firm with offices in Los Angeles, Manhattan, Sunnyvale and Martinsburg, West Virginia. "I look forward to hearing Ms. Patterson and other industry leaders' insights into effective multi-channel marketing at this year's conference."

The Bridge Conference has grown in popularity among association, nonprofit and direct response marketers in recent years. This year's meeting will focus on the disciplines of multichannel marketing, corporate fundraising, donor acquisition, lead generation, and online giving programs.

"Less than 10% of giving is online. That is an area that will grow and is less expensive to operate than traditional fundraising," said Katya Andresen, whose Bethesda, Maryland-based Network for Good organization teaches nonprofits about online fundraising and engagement.

Network for Good was started nearly 11 years ago to create an online donation platform. The Bethesda, Maryland-based organization has helped nonprofits raise nearly $700 million since then. Ms. Andresen will also present at the conference.

The Bridge Conference, whose offices are based in Northern Virginia, is a fast growing annual event produced by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW) and the Association of Fundraising Professionals Washington DC Metro Area Chapter (AFP DC). Over 100 firms will present The Solutions Showcase to share experiences in implementing direct marketing and fundraising campaigns. It is sponsored by a number of organizations, including the AARP Foundation, The Non-Profit Times and Target Marketing. It will be held August 7-9, 2012, at the Gaylord National Conference Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

More: http://www.bridgeconf.org.

Contact:
Geoff Sims
(480) 331-6397

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SOURCE Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference