Dear friends,

With excitement and gratitude, I am pleased to announce that Avalon has been named a 2026 Ad Age Best Place to Work. This honor is awarded to companies who excel in both their employer profile (benefits, policies, practices, and demographics) and 9 categories of employee feedback. I am thrilled that Avalon made this national list among major corporations, and it is especially meaningful to know our team feels happy, supported, and engaged. The success belongs to Avalon’s leadership team, who work tirelessly to support our staff and clients, to the nonprofits we serve, who make our work so rewarding, and most of all to our staff, who bring their A-game every day. Thank you for making Avalon not only a great place to work, but a best place!

Avalon is Hiring!

Avalon is hiring for two open positions: a marketing director and a digital program manager. Besides being an award-winning agency, we offer competitive salaries, incredible benefits, and a positive environment for every team member. Thank you in advance for sharing these jobs with your networks. If you’re looking for a new opportunity in 2026, we would love to meet you!

Year-End Fundraising Recap

Year-end fundraising continues to be the most consequential moment in the digital calendar and in 2025, Avalon clients delivered standout results. Across programs, we saw significant gains in revenue, gift volume, and efficiency, even as competition intensified and platforms evolved. Those results reveal clear signals about what’s working now and where digital fundraising is headed next. For more insight, click here.

Year-Round Engagement

Now that year-end is behind us, it’s time to ensure those donors stay engaged year-round. Jeff Brooks explained the importance of a strong fundraising cadence at Future Fundraising Now, noting three important statistics:

• Average gift starts declining when follow-up drifts past about 22 days.
• Response rate falls gradually through day 30.
• ROI collapses after day 32.

This is especially important for first-time donors, who, according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, have average retention of just 14%. Joe Frye at NonProfitPRO suggested five strategies for securing that all-important second gift: gratitude, 90-day impact journeys, second gift moments, building community, and monthly giving. The first 90 days after a donor’s initial gift are critical for lifting retention and lifetime value, so don’t let the opportunity pass you by. Avalon clients, your teams are on top of this.

“Thank them exceptionally. Show them impact relentlessly. Create second-gift moments strategically. Build community intentionally. Convert to monthly giving systematically.”

– Joe Frye, Nonprofit PRO

Mapping the Donor Experience

Harvard Business School outlined a helpful practice for understanding your customers (a.k.a. donors): create a customer journey map. The big idea is to put yourself in donors’ shoes and identify ways to add value wherever they interact with your organization. Improving the donor experience strengthens engagement, deepens loyalty, and gives donors a reason to keep supporting your work. If you’d like to give it a try, the exercise involves seven steps:

1. Define your goals.
2. Research the audience.
3. Identify stages in the journey.
4. List customer touchpoints.
5. Capture emotions, pain points, and motivations.
6. Identify opportunities and solutions.
7. Visualize the journey.

“Understanding how customers experience your brand is critical to building lasting relationships.”

– Kelsey Miller, HBS Online Business Insights Blog

Martin Luther King Day

Yesterday’s pause for reflection felt especially important, given last week’s increasingly upsetting news from Minnesota and across the world. I hope that every American found ways to connect with King’s teachings and feels newly inspired to keep his dream alive. To learn more, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has an incredible collection and many resources related to King’s life and work, including several surprising facts. I was fascinated to learn that King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech was significantly improvised on the day!