Like everything else, it depends.

Special inserts have a place in a direct mail package, but it depends on their purpose, which should be very specific. The first rule, however, is that an insert should support the primary goal of the package, which is to raise money. It should not have a purpose of its own especially one that is at odds with or a distraction from the goal of fundraising.

A special insert that is time consuming to read or fill-out, like an application or survey, delays the impulse of writing out a check or filling in credit card information for a gift. Documents that entail extra work are going to prolong the quick action that generates a gift. If the insert doesn’t add promotional value to the primary goal, it will split the thought process between two different concepts and the reader will put down all the package components until a “better time” to read, thus ending in a lost response. (Read on …)

In a sign of what’s to come for public libraries and other non-profits that rely on government funding across the country, the Governor of New York State has cut appropriations for the state’s 73 library systems by $20 million. The New York Library Association issued a strongly worded press release this week.

“The library community is outraged by this proposal and the continued targeting of libraries to solve the state’s budget shortfalls. Library Aid has already been cut twice this year, in April by 2% as part of the adopted 2008-09 State Budget and then again at the Special Session in August by another 6%”, stated Michael J. Borges, Executive Director of the New York Library Association.

“No other educational institutions have been targeted for a 20% cut in state funding. There seems to be no recognition by state budget makers that library usage has skyrocketed over the last year as more people turn to libraries for finding jobs, improving their literacy skills and for free reading materials and programs for their families,” continued Mr. Borges.

The New York State Library Association is holding a rally in Albany on Tuesday, November 18th to protest the cuts.

Libraries are important centers in all of our communities and the public usually reacts to cuts with an outpouring of support  We’ve often therefore made a special effort to mention them in the fundraising appeals we put together for our public library partners.

It has been an unusually active year for our clients changing the names of their organizations. We have two public broadcasters and a health care client who did.  The need to reinvent themselves happened for a number of reasons — they wanted to come across as innovative or be forward-looking in embracing new media or primarily to honor a donor who gave them a huge endowment gift.

Their chief concern is whether current donors and members will recognize them as the same organization they’ve been investing in for years and whether they’ll appreciate and accept the change as justified and being for the better. (Read on …)

It couldn’t have come at a worse time. Public broadcasters were scheduling or into their pledge drives; service organizations, libraries and museums were planning their holiday and year-end direct mail campaigns; candidates were out looking for that last influx of cash before Election Day.

The credit crunch and resulting financial crisis has devalued people’s homes and their 401(k)s. And the resulting economic morass has put a lot of good people out of work.

These problems must certainly affect philanthropy. How much remains to be seen. It will be a product of the many uncontrollable factors of the market that keep hedge fund managers and development directors up at night. But it will also be the result of how each organization itself reacts to the tough times. (Read on …)