In today’s @AvalonFYI dispatch, you will find a year-end recap, new analysis of election ads, benchmarks, viral campaigns, resolutions, President Carter’s legacy, and fundraising fantasy football. Read it here! Dear friends, This has been a challenging week with the East Coast snow days and the horrific impact of the destructive wildfires in California. Please stay safe […]

In early January 2025 Meta announced that it will be discontinuing its fact-checking efforts and will instead move towards a Community Notes process, allowing users to moderate posts directly rather than via Meta’s fact-checking team. The big question in the industry related to advertising is: Will this decision make Meta less brand safe? The answer […]

Happy new year! In our first @AvalonFYI dispatch of 2025, president and founder Allison Porter shares 6 strategic themes that fundraisers should have on their radar this year. Dear friends, Happy new year! I hope you enjoyed the holidays and that your organizations have strong momentum from year-end. I was grateful to spend time with family […]

Every year, we come together as a team to share our favorite gadgets, and 2024 didn’t disappoint! This tradition always highlights the tools and tech that have made our lives easier, more productive, or just more fun. We hope this year’s list sparks some inspiration and helps you discover something new to love. Here are […]

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 […]