Reagan fund promotes library

As theáReagan years grow distant, the foundation that helps sustain the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is stepping up efforts to reach out to a new generation of donors who may not be familiar with the country's 40th president.

"This is the challenge that any presidential foundation faces: Once the folks who knew him as a president age and a new generation comes, how do you get them to know him?" said Michael Mathias, SVP at Merkle/Domain, the fundraising division of database marketing agency Merkle Inc..

Merkle/Domain, Lanham, MD, was recently selected by the Ronald Reagan Foundation to provide marketing services, including strategy, data analytics, creative development and donation processing. The collaboration coincides with a "significant up tick" in the foundation's acquisition budget, Mathias said.

After spending time on developing its assets, the foundation feels the time is right to get the word out at a national level about all that the Ronald Reagan Museum and Library has to offer, Mathias continued.

This month, Merkle/Domain dropped its first mailing for the Ronald Reagan Foundation. It went out to 64,857 names and maintains many of the organization's previous strategies as Merkle/Domain begins to test what's working and what's not, according to Mathias.

"We're walking before we run," Mathias said, adding that there's significant room to try new things.

One of the new strategies Merkle/Domain will be focusing on is attempts to raise awareness of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum and its related services among people who may not already know about it.

"Like his politics or not, he was a charming and engaging man who appeals to all levels of the population," Mathias said.