Lee Cassidy, DMA Nonprofit Federation Executive Director, Announces Retirement
WASHINGTON, DC, July 3, 2002 – Direct Marketing Association (DMA) President & CEO H. Robert Wientzen today announced the retirement of Lee Cassidy, executive director of The DMA Nonprofit Federation. Cassidy’s retirement will be effective August 30, 2002.
"Lee Cassidy has been one of The DMA’s most valuable players and a leader on a number of major successes in the nonprofit sector for more than a decade," said Wientzen. "While heading the National Federation of Nonprofits, he proposed and later helped passed reform legislation for revenue forgone, the federal appropriation that, for many years, supported nonprofit postage rates. Also, in 1998, Lee played a very active role in getting legislation passed that links nonprofit postage rates to the equivalent commercial rates for standard mail."
Cassidy served for nine years as executive director of the National Federation of Nonprofits (NFN), which merged with The DMA’s Nonprofit Council on July 1, 2000, to form The DMA Nonprofit Federation. In 1996, he instituted the annual conference, Critical Issues Facing Nonprofits, which has been acclaimed by leaders of the charitable community, state charity regulators, and oversight groups. His efforts also led in the creation of the American Telephone Fundraisers Association.
With The DMA Nonprofit Federation, Cassidy instituted an Annual Western Nonprofit Conference to add to long-standing annual conferences for nonprofit organizations in New York and Washington, DC, and significantly increased registration at those two events. He is currently working on a series of seminars to bring fundraising expertise to smaller nonprofit organizations.
The DMA is currently conducting the search for a new executive director. Qualified candidates should possess public policy and association experience, preferably in a nonprofit environment. Interested candidates should contact Michael Faulkner at 212.790.1598, or via e-mail at mfaulkne@the-dma.org. Cassidy will remain as a consultant at the Federation until the transition period is complete.
The DMA is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States exceeded $1.86 trillion in 2001, including $118 billion in catalog sales and $30 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is
www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.###
Media Contact: Christina Duffney
212.790.1532