Category: Direct Mail
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
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 […]
Read MoreAvalon Dispatch 05.04.21
Dear friends, Last week I got to see my mom and stepfather and my favorite uncle and aunt for the first time in over a year. Cheers to my entire family being fully vaccinated. It was incredible to gather with them again. Speaking of which, Happy Mother’s Day to all the fundraising families out there! […]
Read MoreDMAW AdVents Feature: Testing Informed Delivery
Of all the shiny, new things in the world of direct marketing, the United States Postal Service’s Informed Delivery is one that shows real promise as a new way to make your mail stand out in the crowd.
Read MoreHot off the Presses…
Avalon President Allison Porter and writer Faith Brown Kerr have authored a chapter in the brand-new book: Sustainable Revenue for Museums: A Guide, edited by Samantha Chmelik. Dedicated to “…the volunteers, staff, and board members at museums, historic sites, zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, and nature parks,” the guide presents a survey of the best practices being […]
Read MoreFasten Your Seatbelts…
Let’s face it: we’re in for another roller coaster year. We know that. What we don’t know is what the high and low points will be; what will trigger or suppress giving; what the political landscape will look like in a year—or tomorrow. As an industry, we need to collaborate more than ever, sharing strategies […]
Read MoreAvalon’s Top 20 Best Practices
With Avalon hitting the 20-year mark, we’re reflecting on the tried-and-true fundraising and business best practices that have contributed to our success, some intuitive, some learned the hard way.
Read More20 Staff Summer Industry Reads
As you may have heard, Avalon is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year! We consider ourselves an open book when it comes to our company culture in the direct marketing industry. But as we kick off our anniversary festivities, we wanted to share 20 Things You Don’t Know About Avalon so you can get to know us even better.
Read MoreThe Numbers Don’t Lie
“We should just do this all online.”
We are mailing too much.”
We get it from all sides — questions rooted in good intentions, but lacking specific industry knowledge.
How can we, as development professionals, dispel these stubborn direct marketing fundraising myths that keep coming up, time and time again?
One word: data.
At Avalon, we’ve found that the analytical approach works best to counter these simplistic “solutions” to fundraising challenges. We dig deep into our clients’ data, using hard facts and sharing our expertise to help them understand what does and does not work.
To demonstrate how this analytical approach works, this month we’re launching a blog series called “Dispelling Myths” by TJ Hillinger, Avalon’s vice president and director of analytical services.
TJ will explain how data and evidence can correct misperceptions about how to achieve real success in fundraising. And she’ll give real-world examples of how to use data to rebut mistaken assertions and protect your program from amateur (albeit good-intentioned) meddling — one metric at a time.
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