What you are holding in your hand, or looking at on your screen, is our final issue of Donor Focus for this year. All 40 of us here at Douglas Shaw & Associates hope that you’ve found some useful content to help you along your way.

In this issue you’ll read our take on, “Is it Time to Dump Direct Mail?” It’s a question we’re asked all the time, so we’ve given you some points to ponder.

Another need we encounter in the marketplace relates to the analytics of direct response fundraising results. After all, what good are all those reports if we’re not certain of what to do with them?

Any newsletter entitled Donor Focus should have at least one article that considers the importance of listening to your donors! So, we’ve served up a helping of ideas that are pretty easy to digest.

With all of the natural disasters occurring in the last few years, it’s good to know that people will still pull together in times of great need. Even as “First Responders” are arriving on the scene, there’s a fast-moving network of fundraising partners ensuring that donors have the opportunity to help wherever needed. In this issue, Graham Shaw (yes, he’s related) provides a case study in rapid and highly productive fundraising collaboration.

Finally, and appropriately, our last article of the year is entitled, “Don’t Forget to Say Thank You.” Our Creative Director reminds us that receiving a gift is not the last word . . . or words! So, THANK YOU for being a significant part of what is right with the world!

Joyous Christmas!