Sally Keller

With a strong background in both nonprofit and industry, Sally Keller offers clients powerful skills in direct mail, advertising, public relations, annual reports, speechwriting, community relations, media relations, grant writing, newsletters, and other print and audio-visual materials.

Sally spent six years as a development officer at Cincinnati Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired. While grant writing formed only part of her responsibilities there, grants brought in an average of $350,000 a year.

Sally provided annual, double-digit increases in direct mail fundraising results to this social service agency. Her marketing efforts substantially increased use of the agency by blind and visually impaired persons. They also heightened results in workplace giving programs, strongly enhanced media visibility, and much more.

Sally’s association with the nonprofit world, however, began long before she went to work for Cincinnati Association for the Blind. In 1993, she helped her husband establish the business that grew into Blue Crane Creative.

Working with a wide variety of clients over many years, Sally’s writing has spanned the gamut of nonprofit fundraising – from animal welfare to hospitals, from religion to disability issues, from health organizations to social services. It would be difficult to find an area in which Sally has not researched and written grants, direct mail, media releases, speeches, and other materials.

Sally’s career began at Sive Advertising, following her graduation with honors in English from Miami University. She rose to Account Group Public Relations Director at this agency which was, at the time, the great powerhouse in the Cincinnati media industry. After Sive was bought out by Young & Rubicam, Sally went to the utilities industry as Director of Community Relations with American Water Works, with ten water supply companies in four states. Moving back to Cincinnati, she took her first direct marketing position, developing catalogs and marketing materials for Nutone Scovill, Inc.

An active volunteer in any number of settings throughout her life, Sally also knows the nonprofit world from the inside as a volunteer leader. She has been particularly active in her children’s schools, Girl Scouts, her place of worship, her political party, and the Auxiliary of the Disabled American Veterans.

Sally served on the board of the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).