Your DMW Direct Team

Debbie Merlino President, Fundraising "I enjoy bringing a group together to achieve a common goal -- regardless of whether that is brainstorming a new integrated campaign for one of our fundraising clients, or helping the team re-engineer a process which in turn allows us to better serve our clients."

Debbie has the unique ability to see the big picture, while still having an appreciation for the details.

As President of the Fundraising division, and with more than 25 years experience in direct mail and database marketing, she emphasizes the importance of both strategic planning as well as end-to-end program execution.

She has a wealth of knowledge gained from successfully managing membership and donor programs for a diverse client base of public media, healthcare, advocacy and environmental organizations. In addition, she worked in the commercial sector for more than a decade on a wide variety of business-to-consumer marketing initiatives.

She's demonstrated a personal commitment to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, and has a long tradition of fundraising which stems from her childhood days going door-to-door soliciting funds for UNICEF and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Thomas Hurley Senior Advisor "Great direct response fundraising is simply bringing people together toward a common good. So, when I create a campaign for a client, I picture myself standing next to a donor looking at the organization.  My job is to understand the donor, then find ways to connect their passion with the vision of the organization to build a mutually-rewarding relationship."

As chief steward of the DMW Fundraising Group, Tom’s 37 years of fundraising and marketing experience include roles on both the client and agency-side of running successful direct response programs.

His background includes 11 years as development officer at PBS-NPR stations in New York and Michigan, and 26 years managing membership and donor programs from the agency side in all major markets. Tom thrives on – and is passionate about – all phases of development including membership acquisition and retention, additional and monthly giving, planned giving, major gift development, and corporate support

Additionally, Tom is…

• A Board Member of the Association of Direct Response Fundraising Counsel (ADRFCO),
• A regular conference speaker for PBS, The DMA, AFP, and other trade groups,
• The author of the Fundraising book, In The Trenches.

Tom lives with his family in Plymouth, MA and is a licensed pilot and avid motorcycle rider and collector.

Tracy MacDonald Senior Vice President, Operations "After years of managing commercial direct mail and the people that get it out to the masses, I leapt at the chance to put my experience to work in ways that could really make a difference in the world. My team is fully vesting in making each fundraising effort a success by mailing on time, error-free, and with as many cost efficiencies as possible. We take great pride in our service and get great satisfaction in allowing our clients to focus on their donors and not the nitty gritty of direct response production. We know the organizations we serve are getting the best return on their investment."

DMW clients benefit greatly from Tracy’s important contributions to, and management of, the Account Services Team. She is responsible for overseeing the data processing, printing, lettershop, and USPS liaison services.

Tracy’s background also includes…

• More than 15 years in the direct marketing industry, managing both commercial and nonprofit clients, in both agency and lettershop environments.
• 24 years of overall marketing experience, including eight years in special markets representing several Gillette brands,
• Previous career experiences in college administration at her alma mater, Colby College, as well as at Simmons College Graduate School of Management, plus other roles in public relations and the arts;

Tracy resides in Randolph, MA with her husband and daughter and enjoys museums and the arts, camping, sports, good food, and volunteering for local organizations.

Jodi Scheib Vice President, Fundraising "I dreamed of being a doctor when I grew up. I always knew that what I wanted to do was help people. And, while medical school was not in the cards for me, I am proud to say that helping people is exactly what I get to do every day. As a direct response fundraiser at DMW Direct, I partner with a variety of organizations to help them raise the money they need to accomplish their mission. From cutting edge cancer research to educational children’s programming, the money we raise for these organizations helps people from all walks of life, and I am honored to say that I am a part of that."

With over 13 years experience in the Public Broadcasting system, Jodi is heavily involved with DMW’s overall servicing of its PTV client base. Her many skills and talents include…

Hands-on experience with the Team Approach Database, including vast knowledge in file segmentation and analysis using Target Tags™,

Six years as Membership Manager at KUAT TV/Radio in Tucson, AZ, where she was responsible for all phases of development including membership, database management, corporate support, monthly giving, and major gifts. During her time at KUAT, the station was a PBS Development Award Winner for Overall Development in 2001 and for Overall Membership in 2002.

The management of multiple telemarketing programs for PBS stations, ensuring clients maximize their net revenue with this medium.

Conference speaking at Target Analysis User Forums, PBS, Fundraising Success, and PRDMC.

Born and raised in South Florida, Jodi spent 6 years surviving the desert of Southern Arizona before relocating to New England in 2005. While most of her spare time is spent chasing after her two daughters, Jodi also enjoys rallying around her favorite football teams (Go Dolphins!), traveling, and enjoying the many outdoor activities that Massachusetts has to offer.

Diane Evans Vice President, Fundraising "I have volunteered since I was a teenager. Through helping others, I’ve found my purpose in life…helping others raise revenue for their non-profits. In fact, working at a non-profit gave me a unique perspective on fundraising which I share with my clients."

Diane joined DMW Direct in April 2000, after spending over 20 years as a volunteer and staff member at MPTV Friends – the fundraising arm of Milwaukee Public Television. In her volunteer role, she served as general co-chair of the Great TV Auction, and in her final eight years she managed the Membership Department, including the transition to the Team Approach database. 

Her responsibilities at DMW include serving public broadcasting clients in all phases of development, including strategic planning, pledge production and analysis of statistical reporting from donor databases. 

Volunteering has been a central part of Diane’s commitment to the community.   She has served on the Board of Directors for the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, as chairperson of the staff parish relations committee of Harbor United Methodist Church, as a certified lay speaker for the United Methodist Church, and as a volunteer for various mission projects.    

Diane graduated from Alverno College with a double major in business management and professional communication. She currently lives in Scituate, MA with her husband, David, having lived for most of her life in Milwaukee, WI. She has two wonderful children and two (even more) wonderful grandchildren.  Diane enjoys cross-country skiing, the Green Bay Packers, sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, gardening and reading. 

Brett Jones Vice President, Fundraising "I love fundraising! Every day I have the opportunity to help organizations improve the lives of others, and I feel good about that. I enjoy helping a client solve a problem or reach a goal. Direct response is the perfect balance between art and science to keep things challenging and interesting."

Brett joined DMW in June 2009 with 13 years of prior direct response agency experience.  She manages membership and fundraising programs for a range of non-profit organizations.  In her prior roles, she worked on strategic planning, budgeting, client service, reporting/results analysis, telemarketing, data processing and direct mail production.

Brett has managed membership and donor programs for wide variety of clients, including environmental, social service, education, veteran, animal and health charities, and political/advocacy groups.  Her clients have ranged in size, from small regional to large national programs, including Trout Unlimited, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Saint Francis House, Holy Cross Family Ministries, USC Norris Cancer Center, MSPCA, Rhode Island Community Food Bank, and a number of political campaigns and committees.

Prior to her agency work, she did political fundraising.

Brett is a graduate of Denison University, where she earned a Bachelor of the Arts degree in History with a minor in Political Science.  Originally from the Washington, DC area, Brett lives in Plymouth with her husband and their daughter.

Amy is responsible for the execution of traditional and interactive list research, development and execution of direct mail and print media recommendations, including analysis, reporting, and management of DMW’s list brokerage. 

Her role at DMW has included media planning for many types of nonprofit and membership-based clients, including public broadcasting stations, animal protection organizations, health organizations, libraries, museums, and zoos.
Additionally, Amy’s resume includes..

• Over 16 years of direct marketing experience in list research and planning;
  
• List brokerage work both within a traditional list brokerage firm as well as within an agency setting for Southwestern Bell’s Direct Marketing Agency, providing all list research, strategy, and recommendations, as well as overseeing all list order processing.

Amy is a lifelong resident of the St. Louis area where she resides with her husband and two daughters.  Outside of work, Amy enjoys Girl Scout leadership and small group and family ministry.

Since joining DMW in 1992, Pamela has been instrumental in helping clients answer the questions of where, how much and to whom they should mail in order to meet their new member and ROI objectives.  To answer these questions, Pamela conducts market analyses and oversees the research, recommendation and procurement of mailing lists for DMW’s fundraising clients.

Pamela maintains a proprietary database of mailing history which serves as the foundation upon which analyses and sound list media plans are built.  To further help DMW’s clients target their prospective donors; she is responsible for analyzing client member data to recommend the optimum marketing area for direct mail acquisition programs.

Pamela lives in a suburb of St. Louis, MO with her husband and their cockapoo.  She is active in her church and enjoys traveling, cross stitching, reading and rooting for her favorite sports teams.

Erica Waasdorp Senior Consultant “Some people call me a ‘philanthropoholic’ … I love everything about fundraising. It’s that subtle combination of making the donors feel good by contributing to great organizations and making the clients happy because they can further their cause. Because of my unique international background and extensive experience with monthly giving, I can offer even more to clients who are looking to raise money cost effectively and who are in it for the long haul.”

Erica is responsible for management of donor, membership and monthly giving programs for a diverse group of non-profit organizations, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

She has more than 25 years of direct marketing experience in fundraising and publishing, including seven years as Fundraising Manager at International Fund for Animal Welfare, responsible for its monthly giving programs. She has worked for DMW for more than a decade, helping her clients raise millions of dollars. Her most recent accomplishment was to help her client double their active donor base to more than 130,000 donors and convert 20% of its base to monthly givers.

Erica is very active in the professional community.  She is a past board member of the Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association, past co-chair of the DMA Nonprofit Conference in Washington DC, active member of the planning committee for the AFP/DMA of Washington Bridge Conference, member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), regular industry conference speaker, and columnist for numerous trade publications, including Marketing Advents (DMA of Washington), DMA Nonprofit Journal, and Successful Fundraising. In addition, because Erica is Dutch originally, she writes for the Dutch magazine Vakblad Fondsenwerving.

Erica speaks five languages, lives on Cape Cod, and is married with two children and a cat. She is an avid reader, plays golf and likes to go flying with her husband Pat.

Hilary Garrity Senior Account Executive “Raising money to support and generate awareness of an organization’s cause is what it’s all about for me. I love collecting all of the strategic and creative ideas and turning them into a piece of mail – or email – that acts as a conduit for a message, a message that could make a stranger stop and think…and care.”

Hilary is responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of client programs including creative, print, data processing, laser personalization, lettershop, and mailing for direct response clients nationwide, including non-profit organizations and US-based public television stations.

Hilary has worked with a wide variety of clients, including:  Prevent Cancer Foundation, Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation, Community Hospice Foundation and many public-broadcasting stations including KCET/Los Angeles, Georgia Public Broadcasting, the ETV Endowment of South Carolina & Vegas PBS.

Additionally, her experience includes…

• More than ten years in direct response agency setting, managing both commercial and nonprofit clients,
• Extensive experience in the management of data processing, print, postal regulations and lettershop processes,
• Managing direct mail campaigns in the for-profit sector, for the InterContinental Hotels Group.

Hilary is a graduate of Bentley College and lives in Sandwich, MA with her family. In her leisure time, she enjoys cooking and spending time outdoors.

Eileen Keegan Director, Client Services “I like the production end of direct mail. I enjoy taking the client’s vision and making it a reality. Combining the copy, creative and data in a well-executed fashion, I help produce great direct mail campaigns that generate great results.”

Responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of client programs including creative, print, data processing, laser personalization, lettershop, and mailing for direct response clients nationwide, including several of the largest public television and radio stations in the US. 

Additionally, her experience includes…
Nearly 10 years of experience as an Account Executive in a direct marketing agency managing non-profit clients,

More than 14 years in the direct marketing industry with experience in the management, scheduling, trafficking, and quality control of data processing, print, postal regulations and lettershop processes­--for both commercial and non-profit clients.

Eileen attended Bridgewater State College and lives in Carver, MA with her family. In her leisure time, she enjoys spending time outdoors, gardening & reading.

Eileen Lang Senior Account Executive "For me it's all about creating and growing great relationships with clients and providing them with excellent service and support during the production of their direct marketing campaigns. It's a great feeling of satisfaction that comes from helping clients achieve their goals."

Eileen is responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of direct marketing programs - from creative and print, through data processing, laser personalization, lettershop, and mailing. For the past 9 years, Eileen has managed the smooth execution of direct mail campaigns for a variety of not-for-profit clients, which included complex programs for large faith-based organizations in the Boston area. Prior to direct marketing, Eileen spent many years in other fields as an Administrative professional.

Currently, Eileen and her family live in Carver, MA. She has a great love of animals, and in her spare time enjoys reading, nature walks and spending time with family and friends.

Corrine Turner Senior Account Executive “What I really enjoy about working in the non-profit direct mail arena is the enthusiasm and dedication of our clients. Our clients’ objective is to spread awareness and educate society. And ultimately our mission is to assist them in achieving those goals. The skills I bring to bear as Senior Account Executive allows our clients to stay focused on their primary responsibility and to eliminate the worry that comes with managing their own production.”

Corrine is responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of client programs including creative, print, data processing, laser personalization, lettershop, and mailing for direct response agency clients nationwide, including based public television and public radio stations across the United States. Other non-profit organizations she works with include:  Pathfinder International, Minnesota Historical Society, St. John's Prep and Prevent Cancer Foundation.

Corrine brings…

• More than twelve years in the direct mail industry with experience in the management of job tracking, scheduling, print, data processing and quality control for both commercial and non-profit clients
• Several years experience as a Senior Account Executive in direct marketing managing non-profit clients in an agency setting

Kerry is responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of creative, print, data processing, laser personalization, lettershop, mailing and invoicing for direct response fundraising agency clients nationwide. In addition, as an editor for the DMW newsletter program, Kerry coordinates newsletter content and design for multiple public television and radio stations.

Kerry has a Bachelors degree in Information Design and Corporate Communication from Bentley College and currently lives in Plymouth, MA. In her leisure time, she enjoys cooking, playing soccer and spending time with family and friends.

Leanne is responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of client programs including creative, print, data processing, laser personalization, lettershop, and mailing for direct response clients nationwide. In addition, as an editor for the DMW Newsletter program, Leanne coordinates newsletter content and design for over 10 public television and radio stations.

Leanne graduated from Bentley University with a Master's degree in Marketing Analytics and currently lives in Hanson, MA. In her free time she enjoys exploring the outdoors, playing soccer, and spending time with family and friends.

Julie has more than 25 years experience in corporate print management for both commercial and non-profit clients.

She has extensive experience as an Art Director, Graphic Designer and Production Manager. Her comprehensive print buying knowledge and negotiation skills have allowed DMW Direct to continue to offer their clients the best print options.

As part of the team for nearly ten years, David has been the primary creative package designer for all Public Broadcasting projects. Having created direct response campaigns for over 40 public broadcasting stations, David is thoroughly familiar with the required look, functionality, and aesthetics of the print material he creates and has earned the confidence of others professionally and personally.

His qualifications include:

• 15 years experience in all phases of direct mail and print collateral design and pre-press;
• Overall management and supervision of the DMW Direct Fundraising design department studio
• Familiarity with the latest design, illustration and photo-enhancement software and applications.

David is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell with a BA in Art, with an emphasis on Graphic Design.

With more than 20 years experience working in advertising, prepress, print, direct mail, and publishing, Diana strives to understand the purpose of a project, and enjoys providing effective, functional designs for magazines, newsletters, and print collateral for sectors including non-profit, retail, education, finance and manufacturing. She holds a B.F.A. from Massachusetts College of Art, with a concentration in Graphic Design. In her spare time, Diana further develops her media skills by creating email newsletters and web pages.

Christina is responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of client programs including creative, print, data processing, laser personalization, lettershop, mailing and email creation and deployment for direct response clients nationwide, including non-profit organizations and US-based public television stations.

Christina attended the University of Dayton and graduated with her degree in Geology. Her studies have allowed her to spend a semester at Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawai’i as well as doing field work in places such as Colorado, Death Valley, Zion National Park, Northern and Southern Europe and a portion of Northern Africa.

She currently lives in Plymouth, MA. In her leisure time, she enjoys traveling, reading, archery and going to the movies.

Wendy is responsible for planning and executing direct mail media campaigns in conjunction with clients’ objectives. Her efforts assure that the integrity of a media plan is retained throughout the execution phase – that all of the strategy inherent in the plan is supported tactically.

Wendy’s buying and negotiation skills built during her 11 years with the agency have been integral in campaign execution and management, and are the result of strong relationship-building and networking with the list industry’s key players. Her list research and planning skills are leveraged for the acquisition targeting activities of DMW Direct’s diverse client base.

Wendy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Technology from the University of Missouri in St. Louis.

Outside of work, Wendy enjoys working with the high school and college students at her church. She loves animals and hopes to someday be able to volunteer at an animal shelter.