In today’s @AvalonFYI dispatch, our top 26NTC takeaways, a major update at Charity Navigator, our latest award-winning client, and the beauty of belonging to a crew.
Dear friends,
April began with the refreshing and positive news of Artemis II’s successful mission and historic crew. NASA’s new photos of earth are stunning, and so are the astronauts’ remarks about their journey. I found Christina Koch’s observations on belonging to a crew particularly inspiring:
A crew is a group that is in it all the time, no matter what, that is stroking together every minute with the same purpose, that is willing to sacrifice silently for each other, that gives grace, that holds accountable. A crew has the same cares and the same needs, and a crew is inescapably beautifully, dutifully linked… [P]lanet Earth: you are a crew.
– Christina Koch, Artemis II Mission Specialist
If you followed the voyage closely as I did, be sure to check out the National Air and Space Museum’s Artemis website. It includes a timeline, technical information, and fantastic behind the scenes footage.
26NTC Highlights
Avalon had a fantastic time at #26NTC and enjoyed seeing many of you there! Thank you to digital VP David Lothamer for presenting a thorough recap to our full team after the event. Here are his top 5 takeaways for Avalon staff and clients:
- The current benchmark for investment in paid media is $0.14 for every dollar raised online, up from $0.04 in 2017 (source: M+R). We see several Avalon clients hitting this benchmark and hope others who may have been hesitant will feel encouraged to increase their ad investments to meet industry standards.
- AI tools for content optimization are exploding, and many nonprofits and agencies are testing workflow integrations for enhanced performance. Likewise, Avalon is running pilots to identify new opportunities for our clients. We encourage organizations to continue experimenting with tools that both support their goals and align with their values.
- Multi-touch attribution is an important part of the overall attribution picture, but it can both overestimate and underestimate the impact of media channels. So, it’s best used as part of a larger attribution model that also includes MMM (marketing mix modeling). Avalon approaches attribution as cross-functional work that blends real-time data, specialist analytics, and account-level omnichannel strategy.
- As privacy regulations evolve, first-party (1P) data continues to grow in importance–with some nonprofits even experimenting with a 1P-only approach. Organizations should prioritize the capture and organization of 1P data to strengthen targeting, user experience (relevancy), and boost performance. If you don’t have a plan for this in place, the time to act is now.
- Nonprofits and agencies are paying very close attention to AI’s impact on paid and organic search, which will have major implications on site traffic and revenue outcomes. As senior director of paid media Andrea Thorn and director of paid search Marcel Solorzano outlined in their presentation on AI and the Future of Paid Search, nonprofits should prepare to leverage this change through smart bidding, generative ad creative, predictive targeting, and conversational search integration.
Ratings Update
Charity Navigator has announced the first major update to its ratings platform since 2020. Along with revised metrics and scoring methodology, users will see two new assessments for fair pay and workplace practices. In addition, impact reporting will be available for all program types, with room to share both qualitative and quantitative information. The ratings update builds on the launch of the Impact Reporting Network, an infrastructure developed in partnership by Charity Navigator, True Impact, and YourCause by Blackbaud.
🎉 Award-Winning Clients 🎉
Congratulations to Greenhill Humane Society for their recognition as a Nonprofit Times Best Nonprofit to Work For 2026! This is a tremendous accomplishment, especially since data was surveyed during what was arguably one of the most stressful years in nonprofit sector history. Avalon is incredibly proud to support your work.
