DMA Names Senny Boone New Senior VP of Corporate & Social Responsibility; Current SVP Pat Kachura to Retire at Year's End

September 5, 2008 — John A. Greco, Jr., president & CEO of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has announced the appointment of Senny Boone, vice president, special counsel and executive director of the DMA Nonprofit Federation (DMANF) to the role of senior vice president, corporate and social responsibility. Boone, who will report directly to DMA’s Chief Financial Officer John Horan, will replace Pat Kachura, who announced her plans to retire at the end of the year after 13 years of distinguished service to the organization.

“We are pleased and fortunate that a well-established member of DMA’s senior management team like Senny, who brings a wealth of experience and a unique set of qualifications to the position, has agreed to step into this important role in our organization,” said Greco. “When Pat first informed us of her retirement plans, we were at a loss as to how we could replace someone who has made so many meaningful contributions to the direct marketing community. But it quickly became apparent that the best candidate to build on the success of our corporate and social responsibility programs already worked at DMA, and that was when we approached Senny to take the job.”

DMA has long been a leader in self-regulation. Indeed, the historic cornerstone of the Association’s efforts to secure consumer trust in direct marketing has been its commitment to meaningful, effective self-regulation. DMA’s self-regulatory initiatives — which are aimed at helping members conduct business in ways that build trust, and which include ethical guidelines, education, practical advice, member briefings, and a wide array of online and offline resources — are developed and implemented by DMA’s corporate and social responsibility team, which is headquartered in DMA’s Washington, DC office.

Since issuing its first ethical guidelines in the mid-1960s, DMA has been developing programs and initiatives that educate practitioners as well as consumers about responsible marketing, and in recent years, these programs have been gaining momentum.

Last year, for example, DMA’s Board of Directors announced the Association’s Commitment to Consumer Choice (CCC), a program that addresses consumers’ and policymakers’ preferences and concerns pertaining to the environment and data security, as well as its Trusted Marketer seal program, which enables members to put a seal on their marketing materials that signals to consumers that their organization has taken vital steps to safeguard their privacy and mailing preferences.

Additionally, the Association recently announced its first public and measurable “green” goal toward achieving continuous environmental improvement in the US direct marketing community. To date, more than 90 DMA member companies and nonprofit organizations are participants in DMA’s “Recycle Please” program, which is aimed at encouraging consumers to recycle direct mail pieces after reading them.

Since 2002, Boone has led the DMANF, an organization of nearly 400 nonprofit organizations and 90 fundraising and marketing companies. In this role, Boone has represented DMANF’s members before Congress, the media, state and federal regulatory bodies on key fundraising and nonprofit issues. For more than 15 years, Boone has been involved in legal, public policy and advocacy work in Washington, DC, is a member of the Washington, DC Bar Association, and has a specialized background in communications and association law.

While a search for Boone’s replacement as executive director of the DMANF is underway, she will continue to directly oversee Nonprofit Federation activities. Additionally, to ensure continuity, Boone’s successor will report to her. Between now and December, Boone will also work with Kachura and her team to ensure a smooth transition at year’s end.

“I am honored by this opportunity,” said Boone, “and I look forward to working on the continuation and enhancement of DMA’s world-class corporate and social responsibility program on behalf of its members under the leadership of John Greco and the DMA team.”

# # #