Change Is Good

The temperature as I write this is 101 degrees. Is it any wonder, then, that summer is a time of general malaise and lethargy? (Unless, of course, you’re a kid hopped up on Kool-Aid, pool water and the sweet, sweet rush of school-break delirium).

But even though its editor is a hot-weather wuss, FundRaising Success — the magazine — refuses to fall prey to the summer doldrums. We’re changing … we’re growing, even as some of us are wilting.

Associate Editor Abny Santicola has been promoted to senior editor as of Aug. 1. She’ll be responsible for much of the writing and editing that goes into each issue, as well as sharing the big-picture planning with me. She also is the editor of our free, weekly e-strategy guide, the FS Advisor.

Abny holds a master’s degree in journalism from Temple University here in Philadelphia. She joined FS in 2004 as an assistant editor who we shared with the rest of the Target Marketing Group, and then was promoted to associate editor last year. By North American Publishing Co. standards, her rise was nothing short of meteoric. Abny was a phenomenal addition to the FS staff, and I’m so happy that we’re able to expand her role.

New stuff
If you subscribe to the Advisor, you’ve probably already noticed its new look — leaner, cleaner and easier to navigate. And within a month or two (we hope), you can expect a new look for the FS Web site, along with more original content and a whole new level of functionality. We plan to retool the current site to give you a much more interactive experience. In the meantime, please tell us what you’d like to see there. As always, I’m open to suggestions.

Change is everywhere
In mid-July, I attended the first-ever Bridge Conference in Washington, D.C. — a joint effort of the AFP/DC and the DMAW. The merger (for this event) opened a fresh dialog among members of two symbiotic organizations and sent an exciting shiver of change through the conference circuit — always a good thing. Kudos to the folks who pulled it together (in a mere five months, no less) and to any conference planners with the vision to shake things up once in a while.

Margaret Battistelli,
Editor-in-Chief
mbattistelli@napco.com