AFP CEO Paulette Maehara's Take on Convio's 2010 Holiday Giving Survey Findings

"One of the messages in this report that I thought was very interesting was putting a face to your cause is extremely important. Animals have done that extremely well for some of the animal-related organizations, as well as the social-services organizations," Maehara says. "Putting a face to the cause is extremely important so that people see the outcome of your efforts — not the fact that you're doing some wonderful work — but putting a face on the appeal and the outcome of what their money will actually go toward is extremely important. The more you can do that regardless of the type of sector you come from, the more effective you're going to be in raising money.