The glass - is it half full or half empy?

Historically a primary indicator of charitable giving is consumer confidence.  According to the Gallup Daily Poll, we should be looking up.  Gallup reports that over the last four weeks the mood of America's consumers has continued to improve.  Additionally Gallup has found that daily consumer spending is on the rise (even if only slightly), which is a hopeful indication that perhaps there will be a growth movement in consumer spending.  To keep up with the consumer mood check out the Gallup Daily site:  http://www.gallup.com/poll/107827/Gallup-Daily-Consumer-Mood.aspx.

 Be ready!    Take a look at your file and pay close attention to trends that include:

• Look at trends in engagement.  What are your response rates?  Holding steady, recovering and increasing, looking typical based on historical activity?
• Look at average gift.  Same drill - holding steady, recovering,..???

Keep affinity alive and keep those constituents engaged with other strategies/techniques so that as consumer confidence grows and capacity rebounds your organization will be ready..

Richard is.. drinking from a glass that is half full and inching up all the time.