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 […]

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) have been around for years. But the pandemic accelerated growth in this type of giving over the last two years. For example, Fidelity Charitable reported making donor-recommended grants totaling $9.1 BILLION in 2020. Are you ready to assess the impact of DAF giving on your fundraising program? This surge of giving from […]

There are so many data points nonprofits can track in their data. But not all metrics are created equal. You should focus your attention on information that helps further your understanding of your file. And that helps you act on that information. Here, we share what’s available in Avalon’s Demographic Analysis. Beyond standard demographics like […]

Avalon’s digital team just got back from the Nonprofit Technology Conference in New Orleans. Aside from learning firsthand how delicious beignets at Café du Monde really are, our big takeaway is that engagement – in all its forms – is key to fundraising, communicating, and connecting online. Here are our top 5 recommendations for nonprofits […]

A few weeks ago, in his first day as the new Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell watched the stock market drop nearly 1,200 points. That day was memorable for me, as well—but for other reasons. That market plunge took me back to 2007 when the housing market imploded and the Great Recession began. Back then, […]

The League of Women Voters of the U.S. (LWV) needed to provide donors with a post-election update as quickly as possible after Election Day 2016—regardless of the election’s outcome. OBJECTIVE: The League of Women Voters (LWV) Education Fund’s objective was to be in the mail within days after Election Day, to brief supporters on the […]

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 […]

donorCentrics is out with its always-fascinating index of direct marketing giving for the first three quarters of 2017. The headline tells the story: Post-Election and Disaster Giving Drive Strong Growth in First Three Quarters of 2017. It covers gifts from direct mail, web, telemarketing, and other direct marketing channels to 70 organizations comprising more than […]

Modeling and its efficacy have been under careful review recently, including by Avalon! To see what our nonprofit friends are seeing, I reached out to three industry experts to learn how they utilize predictive modeling to enhance their direct marketing programs. Here’s the roster of folks who provided input: Jeff Huberty, Senior Vice President, Target […]

As I look back on nearly 12 months of 2017, I’m choosing to focus on the silver linings in this year of turmoil. Right from the start, we learned a lot about our resiliency and how to weather frequent storms; our ability to change tactics on the fly; and the pressing need to focus on […]