A Blast from the Past: So, Uh, Are We Doing This Right? (June 2012)

FundRaising Success published its first issue in November 2003, which makes this our 10-year anniversary year. To celebrate, we'll be taking a look back at past issues throughout the year.

For a number of years now, there has been a trend in the advertising and marketing industries toward a greater accountability for dollars spent. The recent recession has accelerated this trend. Thus, what used to be the darling unit of an advertising agency — general television and display advertising — is now being asked to “prove” that expenditures produce a return on those investments.

Meanwhile, those who have toiled in the fields of direct response, where everything was and remains measurable, are being asked to measure more complex marketing scenarios involving multiple channels.

This is no less true in fundraising. Not so long ago, in many nonprofits the “communications” team could do “brand building” without the discipline of measured ROI. Not a single piece of direct mail could be sent without a budgeted return on investment, but four-color, bound annual reports could be mailed at a cost of $6 each without any measure of their return.

Read the rest of the article here.