Learn more about analytics and research best practices, as well as real world examples and solutions for nonprofits.

The Force Awakens?

theater image 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 to see that new donor (and reactivated donor) counts aren’t falling.

Even better news is that retention of Second Year donors are improving for the first time since Mark Hamill’s last film any of us can recall seeing (which any fan would know is the 1978 film Corvette Summer).

The question is whether this comeback will last, or is it a momentary pause in direct mail’s inevitable demise?

The Privatization of the United State Postal Service

by Bill Jacobs | Mar 26, 2025

The current administration has advocated for the privatization of the USPS. This initiative creates a lot of questions and sends a shiver down the spines of development directors for nonprofits that rely on mail appeals to raise a significant portion of their budgets....

The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) State of the Sector Survey

by Bill Jacobs | Oct 10, 2024

Our neighbors to the north, ONN, released the results of its 2024 State of the Sector Survey today. Over 1,000 nonprofit organizations in Ontario participated in the study. The ONN results sounded familiarly discouraging: Four-in-10 nonprofit organizations responding...

Give your donors a rest from fundraising? It’s going to cost you!

by Bill Jacobs | Jul 9, 2024

This post co-authored by me and long-time friend and former colleague, Jeff Brooks, the most vigilant blogger in fundraising I know. One of most counterintuitive truths about fundraising is this: The more recently a donor gave, the more likely they are to give now....