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2025 Bridge Conference
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Wednesday, July 30, 2025
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Copywriting Clinic for Direct Response Fundraisers
Great fundraising copy is both an art and a science. In this pre-conference workshop, you’ll learn to craft, edit, and direct winning copy. We’ll cover successful on and offline copy elements, effective review and editing, and ethical guidelines. Small groups will practice real-time editing. We’ll also focus on specialized copy for renewals, planned giving, monthly giving, and capital campaigns. The second part of the day will focus on collaborating with fundraising partners, including working with copywriters and improving nonprofit-agency relationships. Gain skills to immediately boost your direct-response fundraising effectiveness.
Learning Objectives
- Understand what makes strong fundraising copy for both on and offline direct response efforts and how to review and edit copy successfully.
- Discern how to craft messages for different types of fundraising appeals including renewals, planned giving, capital campaigns, and monthly giving.
- Discover how to work effectively with copywriters, agencies, and organizations to craft winning fundraising copy together.
Speakers
Amy Sukol, CFRE
Principal
Lautman Maska Neill & Co.
Rayna Clarke
Senior Account Manager
Lautman Maska Neill & Co.
Vicki Viera
Vice President
Lautman Maska Neill & Co.
Thursday, July 31, 2025
11:35 AM – 12:35 PM
Ready When It Counts: Optimizing your Program to Maximize Big Moments
Is your direct response program ready to seize the moment when a fundraising opportunity strikes? In this session, you’ll hear from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on how they proactively optimized their direct response acquisition program to improve efficiency, cost to acquire, and overall file performance before a big moment hit. By having a nimble and thoughtful program in place, they were able to capture the full potential of a surge moment. You’ll learn proven techniques to evaluate and strengthen your own acquisition program, strategically reduce costs without hurting performance, and re-focus resources to drive rapid decision-making. Our goal is to provide attendees with tactics for looking at their program with fresh eyes to improve performance at any time, so they can be ready to maximize their next big fundraising opportunity.
Learning Objectives
- Identify key areas to evaluate and optimize to reduce costs while maintaining or improving performance
- Apply proven tactics to refine creative, audience, and process with fresh eyes to maximize their ROI
- Develop a proactive strategy to prepare their program for big fundraising moments
Speakers
Angela Nothdurft
Account Director
Lautman Maska Neill & Co.
Madeleine Durante
Associate Director, Donor Acquisition & Reinstatement
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Thursday, July 31, 2025
2:30 – 3:30 PM
Email Deliverability: How to Avoid Landing in the Junk Folder and Rebuild If You Do!
Get a front-row seat to Reading Is Fundamental’s experience in Gmail’s junk folder. Take a look at what data was used to discover the deliverability problem, the negative impact on revenue, and marketing efforts. Watch as RIF unites to implement an inter-departmental AND inter-agency reputation rebuilding strategy to rebuild trust with email service providers across the board, re-activate their email file with engaging email content, and find the inbox again, stronger than before!
Learning Objectives
- Learn how to get key stakeholders at your organization to take deliverability & digital reputation seriously.
- Develop and implement a complicated, segmented email strategy designed to increase digital reputation and keep you out of the junk folder.
- Get ideas for evergreen email engagement content that will increase opens and clicks to help build (or re-build) your org’s email reputation.
Speakers
Lindsey Twombly
Digital Production Director
Lautman Maska Neill & Co.
Laura Rahman
Vice President, Individual Giving
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)
Thursday, July 31, 2025
2:30 – 3:30 PM
Friday, August 1, 2025
9:10 – 10:10 AM
Troubleshooting a Crisis in Direct Mail Production
It’s 8:45 AM. You’ve just settled in with your coffee and a full to-do list when the call comes in: Something has gone sideways in your direct mail production schedule, and your attention is urgently needed. Sound familiar?
Crises in direct mail production are never fun, but how you troubleshoot can make or break the success of your campaign. Whether you’re a client or a production partner, navigating these unexpected twists requires quick thinking, clear communication, and a solid toolkit of real-world experience.
In this interactive session, industry pros Christiana Trenum and Cindy Barham will walk you through three real-life crisis scenarios drawn from years in the trenches. They’ll share lessons learned, practical vocabulary to use with printers and mailshops, and insider tips to help you identify the right solutions fast. You’ll also participate in a hands-on troubleshooting activity to apply what you’ve learned and crowdsource ideas from fellow attendees.
Walk away with new skills, a stronger troubleshooting mindset, and the confidence to keep your campaigns on track no matter what curveballs come your way.
Learning Objectives
- Strengthen communication techniques to facilitate fast, effective issue resolution
- Analyze real-world direct mail crisis scenarios, and apply key takeaways to your own work
- Learn essential terminology for navigating production, printing, and postal challenges in both standard and complex mail formats
Speakers
Mike DeFlavia
Vice President
Lautman Maska Neill & Company
Christiana Trenum
Director, Business Development
Planet Direct
Cindy Barham
Vice President, Client Services
RWT Production
Thursday, July 31, 2025
4:10 – 5:10 PM
30 Wow! Ideas
Feeling like you’ve seen it all when it comes to fundraising? Think there are no new ideas left? Think again! In this fast-paced, high-energy session, three industry veterans from independent fundraising agencies are back with a fresh edition on a fan-favorite format. With decades of experience between them, they’ve reviewed countless fundraising emails, direct mail campaigns, online ads, text messages, phone scripts, and street canvassing efforts.
This time, they’ll unveil 30 new and impressive campaigns from the past few years that will inspire and energize your next fundraising efforts. These three “friendly competitors” and lifelong friends are a reminder of the incredible community that makes fundraising so rewarding. Don’t miss this dynamic, uplifting session!
Learning Objectives
- How to apply fresh, innovative ideas to revitalize their fundraising strategies across multiple channels.
- Key insights from experienced professionals on what makes recent fundraising campaigns successful.
- How collaboration and creativity within the fundraising community can inspire new approaches to donor engagement.
Speakers
Tiffany Neill, CFRE (she/her/hers)
Partner and Owner
Lautman Maska Neill & Co.
Allison Porter
President
Avalon Consulting
Mwosi Swenson (she/her/hers)
President & CEO
Mal Warwick Donordigital
Thursday, July 31, 2025
4:10 – 5:10 PM
Grow Your Gains: Keys to Retaining a Typical One-and-Done Donor
Learning Objectives
- By attending this session, participants will learn what drives the types of donors that respond to special campaigns (sweepstakes, contests, premiums, emergencies, etc.) and how to get them to give again.
- By attending this session, participants will learn how to build a communication plan that keeps these donors engaged.
- By attending this session, participants will learn other tips and tricks to engage any kind of 1 and done donor.
Speakers
Sean Wagman
Digital Account Manager
Lautman Maska Neill & Co.
Lori Held
Senior Director, Annual Fund
National Park Foundation
