The Most Common Analysis

This year, we have been interviewing (and hiring) new analysts for our growing company. One of the candidates we were talking with recently asked us a great question: What is your most common ad-hoc analysis? Anyone who has worked with nonprofit organizations is...

Postage Going Up

On January 27, first class postage is going up to 55 cents, a 5-cent increase. This is the largest increase in almost 30-years. As this article states: “The Postal Service lost $3.9 billion in 2018, attributing the losses to drops in mail volume and the costs of...

Bearing Down

Many people that work in the numbers business, including us, have been saying for a while now that the stock market is overcooked, and a big correction is inevitable – so the major dive in the Dow Jones yesterday was not a huge surprise. No matter where we end...

Net Dollars Not Donors Part 2

This may sound heretical, but counting donors isn’t as important as counting dollars. Here’s why: donors are not of equal value. For far too long in fundraising, there has been this assumption that “more donors are better.” This would be true...

The Force Awakens?

I’ll be darned. Direct mail acquisition seems to be making a comeback. OK, perhaps not to the degree of a Star Wars $250MM opening weekend comeback. But as I am reviewing recent acquisition (and reactivation of deeply lapsed donors) results, I was pleasantly surprised...