It all started with Steve Thomas

In fact, if we did chicken, he’d be our Colonel Sanders because he’s the inspiration behind everything we do. Steve started the agency to serve the non-profit sector 30 years ago, and today many of the techniques and ideas he pioneered are still being used successfully – by us and our competition.

At the same time, Steve would be the last person to say we should rest on our laurels. His vision, along with that of our President & CEO Neil Gallaiford, is for this agency to continue growing and evolving to solve the ever-changing challenges of our clients – and connect donors to the causes our clients represent.

That’s why ST is a full-service agency specializing in philanthropic marketing. It’s why ST has attracted new talent and continues to work in all channels, with direct mail campaigns that get results, social media and digital campaigns that motivate people to take action, and integrated campaigns that build brands, attract new audiences and create awareness.

This is 2012. This is Stephen Thomas Ltd today.

Steve Thomas has been described as both the ‘Guru’ and the ‘Godfather’ of Canadian direct response fundraising. Though he started off life as a historical geographer and a teacher, he has been a fundraiser for well over 30 years. Steve’s early career began with Oxfam Canada as Development Director, where he established their direct mail program as Canada’s first modern and scientific use of the medium. In the 1970s Oxfam grew to become one of Canada’s leading charities, mainly through the successful use of direct mail.

In 1980, Steve founded Stephen Thomas Associates (now Stephen Thomas Limited), Canada’s first direct response fundraising agency working exclusively in the not-for-profit sector. Over the years, Steve has worked with thousands of charitable and not-for-profit organizations in Canada, the U.S. and internationally. His contribution to the industry was recognized by the Canadian Marketing Association in 1998 when Steve was awarded the Directors’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award and by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Greater Toronto Chapter in 2002 where he received the Outstanding Fundraising Executive Award. In 2006, Steve was honoured by Amnesty International for 25 years of service.

A gifted speaker and presenter, Steve has lectured world-wide on the topics of marketing and fundraising, and is frequently called upon by groups throughout North America and abroad. He has worked in Australia off and on since the mid eighties.

One of the original founders and past Chair of the Canadian Fundraising Congress, Steve is past president of the AFP Greater Toronto Chapter. Steve is Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Humber College Post Graduate Fundraising Program.

Steve was Canadian Ambassador of the International Fundraising Conference (IFC) from 1993-2008. He was Chair of the IFC in 2004 and 2005. He served on the Board of its parent, the Resource Alliance, for eight years and left as Co-Chair in October 2010.

As a resident and former businessman in the Beaches of Toronto, Steve carries his belief of involvement and political activism to his own community where he has been a basketball coach for twenty-three years at Malvern C.I.

In 2007/8 Steve was Fundraiser in Residence at York University. He is now chairman of the Amnesty International Human Rights House Campaign.

As both president and principal strategist of analytics, Neil offers a wealth of fundraising and integrated campaign expertise. In 2006, upon his appointment as president of Stephen Thomas Ltd, FRM Consulting, which Neil founded in 2000, merged with ST.

FRM Consulting provided strategic advice, program audits, and marketing consulting services to some of Canada’s leading not-for-profits, including the Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario and British Columbia & Yukon Divisions, the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario, the March of Dimes, the Toronto Humane Society, and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

Neil is a former national director, donor-based campaigns, at the MS Society of Canada and founder of Cornerstone Response Management, the leading fundraising database management and donation processing firm in Canada. He was also founding editor of The Fundraiser’s Handbook, published by the Canadian Marketing Association. Neil is a senior volunteer with the Art Gallery of Ontario and is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences.

As the president and principal strategist of ST, Neil is readily called upon as needed for all active accounts within the agency.

Paula is responsible for client services (keeping our clients happy!) and behind-the-scenes operations of the agency. She continues to provide strategic counsel for a number of ST clients. Over the course of her career, Paula has crafted multi-channel direct response strategies that include the integration of digital and online media, direct mail, and telephone. She has also developed accompanying budgets for these projects.

Paula is the social media strategist at ST and is active in social media where she’s an advocate for not-for-profits and all things fundraising and marketing. You can find her on Twitter @Paula_Attfield. You’ll often also find her lurking on Facebook and Linkedin as well. Paula loves social media and all things on line so much that’s she’s thinking of renaming herself
Paula @field.

Paula blogs about her own experiences on social media – often from her perspective as a fundraiser and as a donor and volunteer.

Bryan is the Creative Director at Stephen Thomas, leading the creative strategy and development for such accounts as Kids Help Phone, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), Children’s Wish Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, and many others. As a respected writer and Creative Director in the not-for-profit and commercial sectors, he brings years of experience and a fresh perspective to the agency’s signature accounts.

Bryan honed his creative skills at major international agencies including Wunderman, Vickers & Benson Arnold and Draft before coming to Stephen Thomas. He has worked on and led countless integrated campaigns for commercial clients such as Apple, RBC Royal Bank, HBC, Volkswagen and FedEx, to name only a few. Bryan sat on the board of directors of the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) and was founding chair of the CMA’s direct marketing council. He has served as a member of CMA’s national conference committee, was a founding jurist for the National Advertising Awards 2006 (Direct) and was chair of the direct marketing jury for 2007.

Bryan is frequently asked to speak at industry conferences and accredited marketing programs across the country, and teaches the Creative Portfolio course at Seneca College in Toronto. His articles have appeared in Marketing Magazine, Strategy, The Globe & Mail, and he was a founding contributor to the Canadian Marketing Association blog. Bryan is a board member of Restoration Cambodia Projects, a registered charity focused on rebuilding Cambodia by developing sustainable communities across the country.

Taslim leads the digital division at ST where she uses her expertise in the online space to find new audiences and new revenue for leading not-for-profit clients, including Kids Help Phone, Médecins Sans Frontières, Children’s Wish Foundation, Surf Life Saving Foundation, and the Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division.

Taslim developed her expertise in digital marketing working for a start-up internet company at the height of the Internet boom, and then went on to transform FedEx.ca – from a website that had limited information and functionality to the #1 customer touch point at FedEx Canada. She also served at the Canadian Red Cross Society Ontario, where she built their Diversity program, and was nominated for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation Award of Excellence for her work.

Julie leads the digital division at ST drawing on more than 10 years of online marketing expertise. In her role as acting director, she engages new audiences and generates new revenue for clients including The Salvation Army, the Responsible Gambling Council, the Canadian Diabetes Association and Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders to name a few. Over the years, Julie has successfully implemented direct and interactive marketing strategies across the not-for- profit, private, and public sectors.

Before joining ST, Julie was the digital marketing manager at TC Media (formerly Transcontinental Media) and held strategic digital marketing roles with The Hospital for Sick Children, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and the AIR MILES Reward Program (LoyaltyOne). When Julie isn’t working with not-for-profit organizations, she’s volunteering for them.  Currently, she is the director of Concerned Friends of Ontario Citizens in Care Facilities. She is also a member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Marketing and Communications Advisory Board.

In 2011, Julie led her team across the finish line in the Ride to Conquer Cancer, raising more than $20,000 for The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. Julie also currently serves on the Canadian Marketing Association’s Digital Marketing Council.

Every month, 851,000 Canadians visit food banks. Shockingly, 2 million people across this country worry about not having enough food, can’t afford the foods they’d prefer, or go without food because they don’t have enough for themselves and their families.

In the fall of 2011 Food Banks Canada asked Stephen Thomas Ltd to develop a branded, national advocacy/fundraising campaign directed at the general public. The campaign’s purpose is threefold:

• educate Canadians about the root causes of hunger and what Food Banks Canada is doing to address them with a view to eliminating hunger
• motivate Canadians to make a pledge to say no to hunger
• inspire Canadians to make a donation to help Food Banks Canada continue critical research and advocacy work

The result is the Say No to Hunger campaign led by a 30 second PSA that appears online and on broadcast TV to drive traffic to the SayNoToHunger.ca microsite. Digital ads will also drive traffic. An awareness print ad also supports the overall campaign.

The microsite offers visitors the opportunity to educate themselves about the root causes of hunger and their effects on fellow Canadians.

The site is also intended to engage the visitor by asking them to watch the PSA, take a pledge to say no to hunger, and to make a donation to support the efforts of Food Banks Canada as they work to eliminate hunger. The site also houses an online quiz testing the knowledge of Canadians around the issue of hunger. Stats are used to educate and to lend credibility to the effort.

Say No to Hunger Campaign in the Media:

• CTV News Channel
• Marketing Magazine Online
• Canada Newswire
• The Daily Planet

Steve Thomas was thrilled when editor and fundraiser extraordinaire, Guy Mallabone asked him to contribute his wisdom to Guy’s new book. The idea behind the book is to celebrate Canadian fundraising with contributions from 22 of Canada’s leading fundraisers. Excellence in Fundraising in Canada, the Definitive Resource for Canadian Fundraisers went on sale November 29th.

Steve’s chapter on “Direct Response Fundraising” takes the reader through the donor lifecycle and provides insight into the many fundraising channels used today. Steve provides a solid overview of multiple channels including:

• direct mail
• e-mail
• direct dialogue
• print ads
• radio
• special events
• SMS
• telemarketing
• television
• websites

Charities can use one or more of these channels. Ultimately though, according to Steve, it’s all about integrated fundraising: “the nirvana for direct response fundraisers is to integrate a number of channels.”

Steve admits, however, that while we often talk about multi-channel fundraising, it is still all too rare in Canada. One good example of integration in fundraising would be World Vision. Steve advises us to pay regular visits to www.worldvision.ca to stay abreast of what they’re doing.

To find a short excerpt from Steve’s chapter, please visit his blog.

If you’re a fundraiser, or want to be, this is the book to have handy! Click here if you’d like to order a copy.

The Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) and Stephen Thomas were recently featured on Marketing Online for CDA’s newly-launched youth awareness campaign, featuring TV spots that ran on MTV and on pre-roll before MTV shows online at MTV.ca, digital ads, and a custom microsite. Mapy Villaudy, executive director, marketing and fund development at CDA, gives her take on talking to youth from a non-profit perspective. Click here to read the full article.

Marketing Magazine - November 2011

ST is all over the September issue of Marketing Magazine. Our own Taslim Somani, Neil Gallaiford and Bryan Tenenhouse weigh in on marketing, branding and how commercial sector people moving into non-profits are changing our industry. Click here to read the articles.

Marketing Magazine - September 2011

We’re pleased to announce that The Hospital Research Foundation based in South Australia has signed on as our newest client!

Over the past 16 years, The Hospital Research Foundation has raised millions of dollars for research in areas such as stroke, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and other serious conditions.

Steve Thomas, our chairman and executive creative director, and Liz Attfield, senior account director, were recently in Australia to deliver three Master Classes for the Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA) and to visit another ‘Down Under’ client, the always hospitable Surf Life Saving.

After wowing folks at the FIA with both their Canadian and Australian expertise, Steve and Liz continued the conversation with Paul Flynn, CEO of The Hospital Research Foundation. And just a few weeks later, ST has assembled a team to strategize and create a July acquisition campaign – that’s mid-winter according to the Australian calendar.

“We’re delighted to be working with Stephen Thomas Ltd,” Paul says. “ST knows the Australian market and they know direct response like no one else in the business. And ultimately, that means increased funding toward care and treatment options for patients. That’s really what this partnership is about.”

You may remember that our very own Liz Attfield and Steve Thomas were Down Under, teaching three Fundraising Master Classes for the FIA (Fundraising Institute Australia).

Well, the enthusiastic response to those gigs has landed Steve in the pages of Advancing Fundraising, a magazine for FIA members. As a feature columnist, Steve will serve up an international perspective on all things fundraising related.

Click here to check out Steve’s first article, “Fundraising Quick Fixes … magic or silver bullets?”

Following a highly-publicized debated in the House of Commons over the past several days, back-to-work legislation for Canada Post workers has finally received Royal Assent.

Canada Post will begin resuming certain operations today, June 27, with mail delivery returning as early as tomorrow, June 28.

For the information regarding Canada Post’s return, please visit http://www.infopost.ca/en/2011/06/getting-back-to-work/.

If you work with ST and would like more information, contact your account team or reach out to us at info@stephenthomas.ca

According to Canada Post, labour negotiations have stalled in the midst of continuing rotating strikes.

The strike, which began on Thursday, June 3, has been operating under a rotating 24 hour strike schedule, already affecting dozens of cities across the country.

As of today, June 10, Kitchener and Quebec City are on 24-hour strike.

For the most up-to-date details regarding negotiations, please visit http://clients.infopost.ca/en/.

Stay tuned to ST for more details as they become available.

If you work with ST and would like more information, contact your account team or reach out to us at info@stephenthomas.ca

According to Canada Post, negotiations are continuing with the union representing urban postal workers.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says that its new contract proposal includes significant compromises while Canada Post reports that it is focused on reaching a settlement.

But those of us in the Direct Mail business can’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet. If current talks break down, a strike or lockout could happen as early as Monday, May 30.

One thing to remember is that Canada Post does have a tradition of averting strikes at the last possible moment.

Stay tuned to ST for more details as they become available.

If you work with ST and would like more information, contact your account team or reach out to us at info@stephenthomas.ca.

On May 12, close to 100 young professionals will attend the YNP Spring Social at Proof Bar in Yorkville, the second event organized by Young Non-Profit Professionals (YNP), which is already sold out.

Believing that there is nothing more important to the future of the non-profit sector than having a skilled base of potential leaders, Stephen Thomas Ltd established YNP in March 2011. YNP offers networking, professional development, and knowledge-sharing opportunities to its members.

Only a month since its launch, YNP has rapidly grown into a community of more than 190 young professionals who have energy and are dedicated to the advancement of the non-profit and voluntary sector – proof that young people have been in need of a space to connect, learn, and grow.

ST employees Diane Faure and Brock Warner, who are the co-chairs of YNP, are often asked what the age limit is to take part in the events. “There isn’t an age limit” say the co-chairs, “but we do plan the look, feel, and sound of every event to appeal to people in their 20’s to early 30’s. Educational opportunities will be focused on career fundamentals rather than advanced skills.”

What does YNP have on deck for the near future? Besides the sold out Spring Social networking event on May 12, a Speed Mentoring event is scheduled for June 15 and two more events during the summer months.

Passionate about the non-profit sector? So is the YNP community. If you’re interested in connecting with other young professionals who share your enthusiasm and in receiving our news updates, then check out YNP on Facebook.

To be put on the YNP Spring Social’s wait list, click here.


To be added to the YNP Mailing list, send a quick note to YNP by clicking here.