Understanding Inspire

Every once in a while I hear someone grumble about those weird little "captcha" things that pop up when you try to post a comment or otherwise interact with certain websites. You know, the oddly skewed jumble of words you need to decipher and then retype to prove you aren't some kind of droid hell-bent on inundating the Internet with opportunities to meet tall men or rich men or Eastern European women, buy prescription drugs sans prescription (and those pesky U.S. drug-safety standards), or shed 30 pounds in two weeks by drinking this special milk shake that the diet industry doesn't want you to know about.

It can be annoying to have to squint at the wavy words and replicate them exactly in the assigned spot — and let's not even mention the ones that require you to do math. But the word captchas can be an unexpected source of amusement. To me, at least, almost every one of them could be the name of a cool band. Who wouldn't pay to see the The Transient Toenails or The Insoucient Humps?

And occasionally, you get one that makes you go "hmmmm." Like "death calling" (worth mentioning because my phone had just started to ring as it popped up on the screen in front of me). Or "soul scream."

While I was trying to post a link to Facebook last week, this captcha appeared: "understanding inspire." My first thought was that it would have been cooler if it had said "inspire understanding." But next I thought about this magazine and its readers and the work you do. It's relatively easy to learn the mechanics of fundraising. But unless you truly understand your organization's mission and the collective heart of the people who would support it, you're not going to be a very effective fundraiser. That understanding will lead you to meaningful ways to inspire those donors to support your cause.

That's why we did what we did with this month's cover story — 
presenting you with examples of some timeless, classic, risky and, above all, outrageously successful fundraising campaigns from around the world that are featured on the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration website. We hope that reading about these successes here and on the SOFII site itself will inspire you to create campaigns that will move your supporters to give their time, talent and treasures, and perhaps be held up as examples of creative vision and daring in years to come.

Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards

And speaking of inspiration, the nomination process for the 2011 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards is now open. Won't you take a moment to nominate one of your fundraising heroes, gurus, superstars? He or she can be a mentor, a boss, a co-worker, an employee, a consultant, an agency partner … or any other colleague/cohort from the fundraising sector. The nomination process is simple — all it involves is an e-mail — and free.

Margaret Battistelli

Editor-in-Chief

mbattistelli@napco.com