'I Would Like to See Mobile Go Away.' He Said What?

As part of our January cover story, we asked some fundraising pros to fill in these blanks: "My favorite trend right now is ______. I would like to see _____ just go away."

Some of their answers were pretty surprising, with things like mobile giving, special events and good ol' No. 10s being wished off the face of the fundraising earth.

So what do think? Read through their answers, then let us know if you agree or disagree. And fill in the blanks yourself so we can share your answers with our readers.

Pamela Barden
President, PJBarden Inc.
I continue to be excited about the fundraising catalog, because it engages donors and it requires nonprofits to be more specific about what it is they do. This does double duty as it helps them build offers and make the case for support. And maybe it is just boredom on my part, but I would like to play taps for the No. 10 white, window envelope. There's nothing about it that says "Open Me" when I take it out of my mailbox. Yes, I know it's cheap, it works, it gets a good ROI, etc. But it also reinforces the "junk mail" stigma of fundraising mail.

Jean Block
President, Jean Block Consulting
My favorite fundraising trend right now is the trend toward diversifying revenue through earned income. I would like to see sob stories, hand-wringing and excuses just go away.

Jeff Brooks
Creative director, TrueSense Marketing
My favorite fundraising trend right now is specific fundraising that allows donors to tightly designate their giving to things of their choice. I would like to see false claims that social media, apps, QR codes are about to become meaningful to fundraisers just go away.

Dane Grams
Director of nonprofit services, Care2
My favorite fundraising trend right now is online auctions. I would like to see state registrations just go away.