Dear friends,

Greetings from Scottsdale, Arizona, where Avalon’s senior team is meeting for 2026 planning. It’s great to see everyone in person, and it’s important to carve out time for strategy after the flurry of year-end activity. Also, I admit, I was happy to escape the cold weather in Maryland! I hope that everyone weathering this week’s snowstorm stays warm.

“This is a timely, gentle reminder to take care of ourselves, slow the pace where we can, and lean into a little extra warmth and the flexibility of remote work. So, wrap yourself up in a project, find warmth in helping a teammate, have some hot cocoa or tea, or work from a cozy spot if you can. Let’s use this week as a reason to ‘come in from the cold’ in every sense.”

– Melissa Ferrell, Avalon Senior Director of HR

Clients, Save the Date!

Avalon’s next State of the Industry Town Hall will convene on February 19. COO Kerri Kerr and I will present an overview of where things stand and where we’re going in nonprofit fundraising in 2026, followed by Q&A and discussion. This event is open to all Avalon clients, who will receive an email invitation with more details. I look forward to seeing you there.

Messaging and Attention

Frank O’Brien is a good source for messaging advice for nonprofits navigating the attention economy in 2026. This year will be particularly competitive, not only because of typical distractions and the ever-fraught Trump news cycle, but also because it is a mid-term election year in the U.S. To help nonprofits hold donors’ attention, O’Brien offered 8 do’s and don’ts for a message that sticks, along with 5 important messaging pivots for 2026.

ChatGPT Advertising

The Drum reports that OpenAI is preparing to introduce ads in the free version of ChatGPT. This is an early-stage rollout, and, though some backlash is expected, the strategy is likely to hold. Google is also exploring similar opportunities for its AI search, and this will be an important revenue stream for AI platforms to satisfy their investors. For marketers, The Drum editor-in-chief Gordon Young notes that transparency and contextualization will be key. To users, AI advertising should feel less like an interruption and more like a helpful suggestion. Avalon Digital is watching this closely for testable opportunities that complement our clients’ paid media strategies.

To learn more about this topic, look for Avalon at NTEN’s 2026 Nonprofit Technology Conference (26NTC), where senior director of paid media Andrea Thorn and director of paid search Marcel Solorzano will present on “AI and the Future of Paid Search: What Fundraisers Need to Know.”

Psychological Safety at Work

COO Kerri Kerr shared a helpful Harvard Business Review article on psychological safety, which clears up common misconceptions and myths. Authors Amy C. Edmondson and Michaela J. Kerrissey define psychological safety as “a shared sense of permission for candor.” Further, they explain that it does not mean everyone is always nice, or that people always get their way. Psychological safety enables productive debate and honest feedback, which aren’t always comfortable but are core components of successful collaboration.

Reading Recs

I love starting the year with a good book and enjoy the many booklists that people create in December and January. Here are several interesting collections that I bookmarked for inspiration in 2026. Happy reading!

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”

– Harry Truman

• Stanford Social Innovation Review: Social Innovation Reading List
• Harvard Business Review: Definitive Management Ideas of the Year (including “The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift”!)
• Joan Garry: Top 10 Nonprofit Leadership Books
• Stanford Graduate School of Business: Great Literature for Great Leaders