Key performance indicators, or KPIs, aren’t one-size-fits-all. These data nuggets are a valuable way to see if your nonprofit is striking the right balance between thinking big and driving impact. KPIs are designed to tell the story of your work—and the data you uncover should inspire further digging. Why is that particular number down this […]

DAY 1: Connecting like Mushroom Roots Avalon’s most recent company-wide retreat provided tremendous opportunities to gather, learn, and share with and from each other. The retreat was structured to focus on core priorities for Avalon this year: Connection, Belonging, and Collaboration. For the first day, we grounded our connection work with a session from Jenny […]

Hi everyone, It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the news that former Avalonian Amelia Stanley passed away from breast cancer on April 2nd. In 2012, our client at the Kennedy Center reached out to me about this amazing candidate that he interviewed but did not have a position for. He […]

Below is the text of the email I sent to clients on March 10, 2020.  Subject: Avalon is prepared Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at 9:08:23 AM EDT From: Allison Porter Greetings! As we continue to watch the impact of COVID-19 unfold, please know your Avalon teams are prepared to respond to changing dynamics and […]

In October 2023, Google and Yahoo announced a new set of email security requirements for any group sending emails to more than 5,000 names at once. Combined, Google and Yahoo (and Yahoo-owned AOL) account for nearly 2 billion email addresses worldwide, so compliance with these requirements is critical to ensuring your email program will continue […]

Executive Summary While most emails are still opened in standard “Light Mode,” it’s important to start optimizing for Dark Mode because more and more users are adopting it, and it’s not going away anytime soon. Optimizing your emails for Dark Mode can improve the overall experience for users with visual impairments as well as users […]

Four Signs a Donor Relationship Wasn’t Made to Last (And What You Can Do About It) For all the talk in our industry about donor retention, donor desirability is a rarely discussed topic. But the fact is: Acquiring the right type of donor is as critical to strong retention as any post-acquisition cultivation strategy. Some […]

New iOS update and its impact on email tracking There are some upcoming changes to email tracking with Apple devices and Avalon is on it. Apple’s upcoming release of iOS 15 on Monday, September 20, 2021, will include the rollout of Mail Privacy Protection. This feature allows users to block tracking of email metrics like […]

As a consultant, I love a good benchmark. Give me a hot-off-the presses report and I devour it immediately. But as a savvy fundraiser, I must share this PSA with the nonprofit world: You are NOT average. You MUST dig into the data behind industry benchmarks. The problem with averages is that they aggregate performance […]

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