Lynn S. Edmonds

Recent discussions we’ve had with clients, prospects and colleagues have centered around launching or re-energizing acquisition programs. Here’s a list of tips you can use to make your acquisition program more successful as you continue planning for the year ahead. 1. Aggressively test list categories and lists. Work with your agency and list broker to audit your current list universes, then create a testing plan for list markets that might have been successful but are not fully tapped into. Explore new categories: Direct response-acquired donor lists work best, but also test subscriber lists, catalog buyer lists and specialized compiled lists. Analyze the list-usage patterns of other organizations

Every day we hear about the lack of trust between nations, between citizens and their governments, between employees and customers, customers and corporations, and between individuals. Advances in technology have aggravated the problem by making it easy for individuals and organizations to steal or misuse sensitive information.

A professor stood before his class, picked up a large jar and filled it with golf balls. He asked his students if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

Then he poured pebbles into the jar. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. Again he asked if the jar was full, and the students responded, “Yes.” Next he poured sand into the jar, and it filled up everything else. Again he asked the students if the jar was full, and they said, “Yes.”