P1 / UNITED WAY OF
P3 / COMMUNITY
P4
ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Fusionmarx largest
/ BEACON OF BLAIR COUNTY
Meeting the unique
COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY
round of new hires ever
Helping an after school
set of standards and
Reaching out to alumni
means expanded and
program expand their
expectations when
with an arsenal of
new services for our
reach, right here in our
it comes to donating
communication tools
clients
backyard
and volunteering to
and services
/
P4
NEW HIRES
millenials
fusionmarx
Connect IS001
FALL / WINTER EDITION
United Way of Allegheny County looks to Fusionmarx for focus on millennial giving
Volunteers for United Way of Allegheny County revitalizing a playground in a Pittsburgh, PA neighborhood.
Unfortunately, it’s a common
expectations when it comes to donating
more online donations and engage
misconception that young people are
and volunteering.
millennials. Millennials are generally
not interested in volunteering and donating to charity. The truth of the matter is that young people are very interested in charitable causes. In fact, in 2013 alone, 87% of millennials donated to charity. It is true, however, that millennials do have a unique set of standards and
The United Way of Allegheny County was looking for a way to bring in
not receptive to the old methods of fundraising (cold calling, letters, etc.). >> CONT. PAGE TWO
developed a phenomenal peer-to-peer “ Fusionmarx fundraising site that I think will be a huge spark in getting young people to donate to United Way. ”
– Micheal J. Herald, Esq., Millennial Steering Committee, United Way of Allegheny County
MyUnited Way >> CONT. FROM PAGE ONE
One of the reasons for this is that millennials are extremely cautious regarding who they donate money to. Before making any kind of contribution, they prefer to do research, finding out how trustworthy the organization is and exactly how the money is going to be used. This research is typically done by visiting the organization’s website. For this purpose, it’s important that an organization’s website clearly explains
to Fusionmarx, we have taking a “ Thanks giant leap in peer-to-peer fundraising. ”
– Linda Jones, VP of Campaign Development United Way of Allegheny County
who they are trying to help, how they are trying to help them, and how they have helped in the past. This is best done with
doable in the least amount of clicks possible.
videos, testimonials, and photos.
The same goes for volunteering. Registering
Once a charity passes the “trustworthiness” test, millennials then
as a volunteer for an upcoming event should be easy, quick, and painless.
money on the organization’s behalf? By partnering with Fusionmarx, the United Way of Allegheny County has been able to do all of this and more by launching My United
want to be able to make their donation
Finally, millennials also want to know that
Way. Since its launch, millennials have been
as quickly and easily as possible. Upon
their contributions are going to be recognized.
using the site to raise money for causes that
visiting the organization’s website,
Will they be able to share their donations with
mean the most to them, all while being able
it should be instantly clear how a
their friends and family via social media? Can
to share their accomplishments with their
contribution can be made, and it should be
they set up their own fundraisers to raise
family and friends.
The Tools We Used United Way of Allegheny County MY UNITED WAY
The website also comes with a custom-built community, which allows users to sign up and share status updates, photos, videos, post blogs, join groups, and more! Similar in design and functionality to Facebook, the community gives My United Way users the unique feeling that the site really is their own. SOCIALGOOD GIVING My United Way also runs on Fusionmarx’s SocialGood software. These tools give United Way a clean, powerful website that gives users the opportunity to raise money on United Way’s behalf. United Way can then track and analyze donor information to mold its future marketing efforts. Whether it be donation amounts, age, or email address, United Way has all the donor information they need to get the most out of their fundraising.
Below: Community College of Allegheny County students ready for the graduation ceremonies. Right: The CCAC Alumni Association Heritage Society poses for photographs prior to an event.
Community College of Allegheny County reaches out to alumni
WHAT WE DO FOR CCAC The Community College of Allegheny County utilizes Fusionmarx’s VDP, magazine, and email tools to reach out to its alumni database. VARIABLE DATA DIRECT MAIL The VDP tools allow mailing recipients to be addressed by name, as well as receive information thanking them for their most recent donation, naming the specific date and amount. This gives the mailings a personal touch, which has been shown to increase donations. ALUMNNET NEWS MAGAZINE PUBLISHING Fusionmarx designs the magazines with custom color photos, graphics, text, and layout. The magazine is published in both a physical and digital format and it distributed both through the postal service and email. The magazine updates alumni on what is going on around campus, what other alumni are up to, and is built to create
CCAC: Fusionmarx provides tools and services to help reach out to alumni.
engagement and bring in more donations. EMAIL DESIGN AND MARKETING The Community College of Allegheny also
Unlike many four-year
as an alumni magazine and regular email
works with Fusionmarx to design and send
universities, community colleges
campaigns regarding ongoing events.
custom emails. Fusionmarx creates custom layouts, graphics, and text for each email blast
often have a difficult time creating lasting
All mailings address the recipient by
relationships with alumni. This can make it
name, thanking former donors for their
hard to bring in much-needed donations.
most recent gift, adding a personal touch
By partnering with Fusionmarx, the
to each piece that makes donors feel
The statistics for each email are precisely
Community College of Allegheny County has
appreciated. Recipients that have not
tracked, giving an exact report of who opened
been able to enliven its alumni database
donated in the past receive a separate
through updated and effective marketing
mailing, with text specifically written to
campaigns.
inspire first-time donors.
The Community College of Allegheny County
The efforts have been effective in
works with Fusionmarx to create four
broadening the Community College of
alumni donation appeals per year, as well
Allegheny County’s donor database.
and targets each campaign to specific groups (for example, LYBUNTS and SYBUNTS).
the email, who unsubscribed, who clicked each individual link, which date the email was last opened, how many times it was forwarded, and more. This allows the Community College of Allegheny County to adjust its email marketing plan effectively, giving them a thorough understanding of what is working best for each individual group.
>> READ THE FULL ARTICLE ONLINE AT WWW.FUSIONMARX.COM
Fusionmarx Welcomes New Team Members
“ We are delighted to welcome these
individuals to the Fusionmarx family. They will greatly expand our services and expertise for our clients.
”
GEORGE SACKANDY; CEO AND FOUNDER FUSIONMARX
KEVIN KEEGAN
STEVE WEITZMAN
LINDA KOVAL
COURTNEY LYNN
DAVID TESTA
As Project Director, Kevin is
Our Communication
Linda develops
Beyond duties as office
David manages social
often a project’s point person.
Specialist, Steve, manages
communications campaigns
manager, Courtney also is
and traditional print media
He prepares a project plan,
media and legislative
that effectively target all
a project manager and is
outreach for our clients.
manging the resources that
contacts for media relations
market segments and also
responsible for the day-to-
From technical writing, press
align the project with broader
and grassroots advocacy.
helps with relationship
day management of active
releases to social media updates, David also assist in writing and editing client
outcome goals and measures
He packages concepts and
building strategies and
accounts as well as drafting/
the outcome.
programs into persuasive
membership drives for our
proofreading written content.
“messaging” for our clients.
association clients.
Beacon of Blair County Helping Youth in Our Region Fusionmarx built and helps manage the Beacon’s website. The Beacon needed a clean, well-designed website to get its message out and raise money for its afterschool program. Fusionmarx worked with the Beacon to shoot and edit a testimonial video where youth that have been helped by the Beacon explained the importance it has played in their lives. Telling stories is an important part of fundraising, and with the help of Fusionmarx, the Beacon was able to tell a story and raise money through its website and video.
communications campaigns.
PAWorkersCompHelpNow.com Growing in a Competitive Market PAWorkersCompHelpNow
for all of PAWorkersCompHelpNow’s social
works with Fusionmarx to
and online media.
design, manage, and craft both
Fusionmarx has also worked with
its website and its website
PAWorkersCompHelpNow on other marketing
content as well as its social
efforts, including the writing of press releases
media efforts.
and white papers.
Fusionmarx works with
Fusionmarx has also worked to enter
PAWorkersCompHelpNow to
PAWorkersCompHelpNow’s information into
write a weekly Pennsylvania
various directories around the web, greatly
workers’ compensation blog.
improving its local SEO rankings.
The blogs are written with the best SEO efforts, utilizing the keywords needed for an attorney to get noticed on Google searches. All blog posts are then shared on PA WorkersCompHelpNow’s social media accounts. Fusionmarx also works to
PAWorkersCompHelpNow.com attorney A.J Paltutus,
curate content and other posts
Esq. during an interview for a Q&A web series.