A Look Back — and Forward

On a more serious look back, in March 2003 CMS sent a thorough memo to our clients, authored by Roger Craver, about the state of fundraising. The subject line was “The Economy, War and Their Impact on Fundraising.” Consumers were, at the time, experiencing what was being called the worst confidence of crisis in the last 35 years — and consumer confidence equated donor confidence. Among other highlights: Unemployment was at 6 percent, retirement accounts were dwindling, oil and gas prices were increasing, stock prices had fallen for three straight years, war was on the horizon, and corporate scandals were on the rise. The economy was the No. 1 worry of most Americans, and a leading market research firm that advised the commercial world counseled its clients to prepare for war in what was dubbed, “The New Age of Anxiety.”