Turning the Tables

Maybe it’s because FS readers are more accustomed to being the askers than the ask-ees, but I’m just having the darndest time getting what I want from you folks. And I’m not even asking for money!

What I want is for you to talk to me. This being June, FS is barrelling toward editorial planning for 2007. You read right … 2007.

In less than a month, I’ll hole up in my office (and my living room and my bathtub — red wine and bubbles do wonders for the creative process) and chart what we’ll be writing about in 2007. That’s 11 cover stories (not counting the December Fundraising Resource Guide), roughly 24 features and lots of departments, including Case Study and Taking Control.

As much as this sounds like whining — and it is — this is an exciting time for an editor. It’s also stressful. I want FS to give you the information you’re looking for. I want this publication to be responsible for dozens of those light-bulb-illuminating, chorus-of-angels-singing, “a-ha!” moments.

Sure, my staff and I follow the buzz at conferences and chat up as many of you as we can over the year. And we know what we think we need to cover. E-philanthropy will weigh in heavily on our 2007 editorial calendar, for example, but under that circus-tent-like umbrella, what areas do you still need some illumination on? Web site tactics? E-mail campaigns?

What about data mining? Are you clear on the concept of analytic modeling? Do you need guidance in your planned-giving, major-gifts
or annual-campaign strategies? Premiums? Prospecting? RFM? EFT?

OK, fair enough — I’ve been involved with the fundraising sector long enough now to know that when making an ask, it’s not about what you can do for me. It’s about what you doing for me can do for you. So in addition to making my job a little easier, contacting me with ideas for stories to write and topics to cover ensures you’ll get more interesting reading, a more productive way to spend your time, and the best possible partner in helping you raise more money and further your mission.

In the next month or so, expect to receive an e-mail survey about editorial coverage in FS. I hope you’ll take the time to fill it out. I also hope you won’t wait until then to tell me what you’d like to see more and/or less of in these pages. Write a Letter to the Editor (for publication or not) or respond to the Sound Off questions posed Tuesdays in the FS Advisor e-strategy guide.

However I hear from you, I’d really like to hear from you — just
don’t make me call you at home. At dinner time. 😉

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