Just received the latest copy of Fundraising Success magazine in my mailbox today. It’s a publication I always enjoy reading, even though my perspective frequently differs pretty significantly from theirs. Two of my favorite blog writers, Katya Andresen from Network For Good and Jeff Brooks of Donor Power Blog write for the pub, and Margaret Battistelli’s Editor’s Note is always a good read.

But I was absolutely, postively heartbroken by the cover photo.

It shows a cowboy riding a horse, getting ready to toss a lasso.

The caption?

Fundraising 101: Acquisition

Part 2 of our four-part series on fundraising basics focuses on best practices for rounding up new donors via direct mail and online (lasso optional).

Lasso optional?

Nonprofit = cowboy?

Which would mean…

Donor/champion = ???

I felt literal physical pain in my stomach at the idea of thinking of champions as cattle.

Cattle rounded up by nonprofit cowboys, no less.

You can see the cover photo here.

(I disagree with the content as well, of course. In Transformational Giving, we talk about recruiting champions for a cause, not acquiring donors for a donor file. Moreover and more radically, the responsibility for recruiting new P-level champions for the cause belongs to your O-level champions, not your organization. We’re going to be detailing this exciting strategy in the upcoming free Mission Increase Foundation Marketing Your Ministry workshops and labs in August and September. These fill up quickly, so make sure to register early and often.)

I am normally a peace-lovin’ (embarrassingly) conflict-avoidin’ cowboy myself, but in this case I decided to send an email expressing my concerns in a nice and polite way to Margaret, the editor in chief.

She wrote back the very same day with an even nicer and politer reply:

Eric…

Thank you so much for taking the time to write. I appreciate your gracious note and comments about the cover… you make a very good point. Of course, we didn’t mean to imply the whole donor/cattle connection, but obviously the cover was open to interpretation.

If you don’t mind, I would like to run your comment either on the FS homepage, which will soon have a “What You Are Saying” section or in the magazine itself.

Thank you again — both for reading FS and for writing. I always love hearing from readers, and a fresh persepctive on things we’ve done in the magazine is always, always welcome.

All the best!

Margaret

Score one for we cattle!