We are pleased to say “hello and welcome” to our newest member of the Holland|Simpson family. Anna Anthony comes to us from Tulsa, Oklahoma (although she’s a native Metroplex-ian) as our Project Coordinator and Operations Assistant. Anna’s a crackerjack detail person and we are so very glad to add her training and experience to the team.

We must also say "goodbye and Godspeed" to our veteran H|S team member. Heather Humphreys is leaving Holland|Simpson after 5 years of dedicated and exemplary service. Heather senses God’s call to our nation’s capital and though we are saddened to lose her (I know I’m still in denial) we are nonetheless joy-filled about the journey that God continues to unfold before her.

Heather has been so very instrumental in assisting us with client service and our operational growth. Beyond that, she has always personally cared about the ministries we’ve served and daily demonstrated her passion to serve Christ through her work on their behalf.

Please pray for God’s blessing on Heather. She is so very precious to us and we are very excited to see what God has in store for her in the Washington, D.C. area.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, Anna will be taking over many of Heather’s responsibilities and we know that she will do a wonderful job for the many great organizations we serve.

Here's an article from a 1961 issue of Office Automation magazine highlighting how a forward-thinking Catholic charity is using mainfraim computers to automate its direct mail fundraising.

We've come a long way, baby.

Michael Hyatt is the President and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. Here is a YouTube video of a very interesting presentation he gave recently on the outlook for Christian publishing and retail.

Link.

What will ongoing economic uncertainty mean for organizations dependent upon donor involvement for survival?

Here are some thoughts from Paulette Maehara, the president and chief executive of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (via TargetMarketing and Ethan Boldt).

She sees three hopeful signs for non-profits amid the ongoing political campaigns:

1. Donor Dollars are There
The last two presidential cycles didn’t bring any more campaign money than normal from donors, comments Maehara. “However, this presidential campaign is raising 10 times more money in the primaries than has ever been raised before.”

3. Plenty of First-Timers
The campaign of Barack Obama, in particular, has ushered in a whole new generation of donors—who nonprofits will hope to approach soon. “There are a lot of younger donors, first-time givers. That is not the typical demographic for these charitable organizations,” admits Maehara, who says that it will be exciting to watch how nonprofits solicit donations from this new generation and to find out how big of an impact it could have in these uncertain times.

Of course, it's doubtful that Christian ministries are going to find a lot of new donor prospects among the young throngs chanting "O-bama!" and fainting. But it is somewhat encouraging to know that the "under-30" demographic can be persuaded to donate to anything.