Geared Up for Growth

5. And then my last bit of advice: Don’t get too caught up in what your case for engagement is. So many times I’ve heard, “Oh gosh, it’s easy because there are children involved,” or, “Boy, if I just had a puppy for the envelope.” The truth of the matter is, if you believe 100 percent in what you’re doing, no matter the size of your nonprofit, you push through until you find the right message for your case for engagement, whether it’s online, major gifts or direct mail. And then you have a little bit of basis for success and can start pulling in best practices. Or maybe you’re right at the precipice and you’ve got 25,000 names on your donor list and you need to start thinking about the analytics that Kristin was talking about. All of those things apply, but if you have to start somewhere, start by looking around at what people you admire are doing, and ask how they do it.