The Advantage

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The Advantage



The Nation's Most Valuable Nonprofit Brand?		Awards Announcement!
		College Grad!
		MSAA Making its Mark!
MADD Taking Major Leap Forward		Tidbits
NCCS International Humanitarian Award Dinner
American Legion Legacy Run

Postal Service Plans Big-Mailer Discounts
Freedom Rock Tour


Nonprofit Power Brands 2009


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The Nation's Most Valuable Nonprofit Brand?

According to The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100, what is the nations' most valuable nonprofit brand?

Be one of the first ten people to respond with the correct answer to be entered in this month’s drawing for the All Occasion Cookie Gift Basket.

Do You Know the answer?

	MADD Taking Major Leap Forward MADD is proud to support House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Jim Oberstar and Ranking Member John Mica as well as Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio and Ranking Member Jim Duncan as they introduced the blueprint for the next highway reauthorization bill. The blueprint includes bold initiatives which will have a dramatic impact on highway safety in America, and MADD profoundly thanks Chairman Oberstar and the House T&I Committee for their vision and commitment to highway safety. Additionally, MADD is grateful for the extraordinary support of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers on their joint efforts to bring highway fatalities down. Included in the bill is a doubling of the budget for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which sets state performance standards for a national agenda for highway safety. This funding will give states more opportunities to focus on programs and initiatives that are proven to be effective in saving lives. Two strategies proven effective are primary seat belt laws and ignition interlock laws. According to the blueprint, states must pass these laws or be subject to a penalty. In New Mexico, for example, DUI fatalities have been reduced by 35 percent since increased high visibility enforcement efforts and requiring all convicted DUI offenders to use an ignition interlock device. Source: MADD Monthly; June 2009
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	NCCS International Humanitarian Award Dinner On September 26, former First Lady Laura Bush will be in St. Louis to receive The National Children’s Cancer Society (N.C.C.S.) Alvin K. Stolze International Humanitarian Award. This award is present to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and advocacy on behalf of children. N.C.C.S is pleased to honor Mrs. Bush for her lifetime support of childhood education and health issues.
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	American Legion Legacy Run The fourth annual American Legion Legacy Run is a four-day, seven-state, 1,200-mile motorcycle ride that raises scholarship money for children of U.S. military members killed on active duty since 9/11. Donations go to the Legacy Scholarship Fund, which has received more than $1 million during the three previous Legacy Runs. So far, the 2009 Legacy Run has raised $138,000. Source: The American Legion Online Update, August 20, 2009.
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	Postal Service plans big-mailer discounts The Postal Service is planning to offer discounts to some of its best customers. Companies that mailed at least 500,000 first-class letters, cards or large envelopes between October 1 and December 31 in each of the past two years, will be eligible for lower prices. Under the plan, the Postal Service would establish a base amount of mail for companies that apply for the discounts and they would be eligible for 20 percent discounts on mailings over that level in the October-December period. The program will bring in an additional $43 million, between new mail and mailings that move up from standard to first-class service. The Postal Service anticipates finishing this year $6 billion in the red, despite a rate increase, reduction in staff and other cost-cutting efforts. Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, August 13, 2009.
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	Freedom Rock Tour The painter who created an artistic tribute to America’s military and veterans – from a graffiti-covered boulder in Iowa – wants to share his patriotic creations with many more people across our nation. Ray “Bubba” Sorenson II plans to visit American Legion posts across the country and paint murals on his first Freedom Rock Tour. John Derner, American Legion Department of Iowa adjutant, says the Freedom Rock has gained quite a strong following among veterans and travelers; it even has its own Web site. “It has become a tourist stop for those traveling along Interstate 80, and a destination for veterans nationwide. Word of the rock has circled the globe in e-mails, and the artist has been recognized for his work by several American Legion departments.” Sorenson was inspired to paint his first Freedom Rock in 1999 after seeing the film, “Saving Private Ryan.” Derner said the artist wanted to “find a way to say 'Thank you' to those who have served our great country.” Since then, every Memorial Day, Sorenson repaints the rock with patriotic images and sayings in support of our military men and women, past and present. Source: The American Legion Online Update, July 16, 2009.
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Nonprofit Power Brands 2009

The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100 research explores the unique relationship between nonprofit brand image and financial performance and revealed some organizations may be leaving millions of dollars in potential unearned revenue on the table. Cone, in collaboration with Intangible Business, developed new brand valuation to provide nonprofits with the information and inspiration they need to make their brands work better. Brands were based on five years of consolidated financial data and a nationally representative consumer perception survey, among several other metrics.

The Top 10 Nonprofit Power Brands are a Who’s Who of some of America’s most beloved and recognizable organizations. Six of these organizations are domestic social needs organizations with long legacies of service and touch points in communities across the country. The two surprise findings on the list are Catholic Charities USA and The Arc of the United States, which have significantly lower brand image rankings than their peers in the Top 10.

YMCA of the USA, US $6,393.6
The Salvation Army, US $4,702.9
United Way of America, US $4,516.9
American Red Cross, US $3,146.2
Goodwill Industries International, US $2,534.8
Catholic Charities USA, US $2,361.1
Habitat for Humanity International, US $1,768.0
American Cancer Society, US $1,359.8
The Arc of the United States, US $1,223.6
Boy & Girls Clubs of America, US $1,168.3

Source: The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100, June 24, 2009.

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The people using your name are being Positive, Polite and Passionate and are representing your organization with integrity, honesty and skill. Two separate teams are tasked only with monitoring and critiquing presentations for quality purposes and all levels of management are involved daily in this process. With Donor Services eXtreme, Heritage promises our partners access to the agents representing them 24/7/365. For more information, please contact your Account Executive.

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	Awards Announcement! The Heritage Company was chosen as a winner in this year's Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence competition! For the category Direct Mail Renewal - Less than 50,000, Heritage won a Silver Award for The Empty Stocking Fund Donor Renewal Test Package!
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	College Grad! One of our very own, Jonathan "Chic" Pierce, graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with a B.S. degree in Speech Communication and a minor in Business Management. Jonathan is the Senior Manager at the Conway satellite office and is directly responsible for 11 campaigns. The campaigns are MSAA, MADD, AADB, MOWLC, SOCT, SOKY, SONJ, SOTX, SOUT, SOAK, and SOCA-S. Jonathan has been with Heritage for 9 1/2 years. Chich, we are very proud of you!
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	MSAA Making its Mark! The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America developed the Resource Detective® Program in 2007 to meet the challenge of patients in search of information and resources to meet their needs. The program mobilizes volunteer “detectives” to seek out resource information that is beneficial to others with MS. The goal of the program is to establish a comprehensive, up-to-date national resource database to assist those affected by MS. The resources collected are currently available through MSAA’s Helpline. Source: MSAA, The Motivator, Summer 2009.
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	Tidbits The state of Florida has revised its policy on filing financial reports for contracts lasting more than one year. Previously, the due date was ninety days after the anniversary date. The new policy makes the deadline on the anniversary date. Delinquent filings are subject to a $1,000 fine! The National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia continues to face an uncertain future. Efforts are now being made to transfer the memorial to the National Parks Service. The reclusive Fats Domino appeared and performed with Little Richard and BB King at his "Domino Effect" concert. This annual event is held in New Orleans to help raise funds to rebuild schools and playgrounds. In the state of Missouri, the Department of Revenue has issued a ruling that a nonprofit's special event entertainment ticket sales are subject to sales tax because the shows compete with other commercial entertainment venues and are not solely a charitable function. The New York Times Company Foundation recently announced it is suspending grant-making as well as the company's matching gift program. Together with its subsidiary, the Boston Globe Foundation, the Times Company Foundation made $7 million in grants in 2008 to programs dedicated to journalism, education, culture, the environment and public service.
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