Brewer Direct Welcomes Two New Clients
"What goes around comes around." That is certainly the case with Open Door Mission of Rochester, NY which was one of BDI President/CEO Randy Brewer's first clients at "another agency".
July 1, ODM's new agency of record will be Brewer Direct. A visit to the agency by several staff members including Creative Director Cindy Courtier and photographer Greg Schneider (whose glob-trotting career is profiled in below in this edition of The Direct Edge will get the Mission's new direct mail campaign and a custom newsletter program up and running.
BDI is also consulting with Mission Executive Director Ron Fox, newly appointed Development Director Michael Hennessy, and Communications Director Christopher Scribani to launch a Major Donor strategy. "I remember their first direction mail campaign in 1992," said Brewer. "I'm very excited to be working with Open Door Mission again."
What do you do when the number of homeless people in your community doubles and many of the agencies who used to serve along side you are no longer in existence? That's the challenge faced by the New Orleans Mission in a city still suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Mission men have been relocated to an emergency tent out in back of the still-uninhabitable. But the damage to the Mission went far beyond the physical plant. According to Executive Direct Ron Gonzales, "Our donor database dropped from 28,000 to less than 3,000, resulting in little revenue. By the end of the first week following the storm, we laid off 90 percent of our staff. Despite such overwhelming circumstances, the Lord has been faithful."
A visit with Brewer Direct staff members who were attending the AFP International Conference in New Orleans in March resulted in an agreement to pursue some "very creative" fundraising efforts. As a result, BDI has been able to secure a commitment from its list brokers, printers and database partners to produce the Mission's 2009 holiday campaign at cost. In addition, the agency will create and produce the campaign on the same basis. "It wasn't hard to be 100% agreement from our vendors," said VP Operations Brian Hackler. "Everyone's working together to help this Mission get back on its feet."