The Impact Gap

Starting to write our annual appeal letter again – Fall is in the air.

It’s always a time for me to wet my finger and stick it in the wind…

But it’s tricky – between when I write the draft, and when it arrives on people’s desks (yes we still do snail mail, it proves effective time and time again) – the world could have changed around.

I remember in 2000 I wrote two endings – that was the election that went on and on…(ouch).

In 2008 I held my breath and couldn’t even write until November 5th.

Occupy Wall Street is the obvious zinger this year. I could write about how so many Cause Effective clients have been working on those issues on the ground for years…and then what?

Will they still be there when the letter hits?

Will the political scene have shifted in some notable way?

Is there an impact I could point to –

Or could I spin a story about how Cause Effective has to be here to help the nonprofits on the ground slog through these issues day in and day out…year in and year out?

Too important too ignore, too volatile to pin down.

Stay tuned to see how I solve this one…..