It's a question I get asked a lot, especially since the latest e-Benchmarks study shows a drop in open rates. My answer can depend a little on my mood, but I generally think that email is not going to die, just as direct email is not going to die (anytime soon). Never say never, but bet on the fact that both will be around for a good long while.

This raises an interesting point: your job as communicator or fundraiser is getting increasingly difficult.

Brian Reich, EchoDitto

If you are in charge of marketing, recruitment, engagement, or fundraising for an organization, you spend most of your time looking for some tiny advantage -- something to generate buzz and differentiate your offering from the crowd of other organizations. There are, after all, thousands upon thousands of not-for-profit groups doing excellent work in local communities around the globe.

Too often, the decisions that organizations make when it comes to online marketing, especially non-profits, are dictated by "shiny object syndrome", a terrible affliction that results in a marketing path based on whatever is newest or generating the most buzz of the moment, instead of what will truly be effective.

To be successful, organizations need to share, clearly and consistently, the societal impacts of their efforts. They need to provide hands-on experiences that the user can explore and understand, and they need to demonstrate their commitment over time.

Katya Andresen, Network for Good and Mark Rovner, Sea Change Strategies

Some very human principles make or break the success of absolutely everything you do online. These are the kinds of truths Buddha or Freud –- explorers of the deepest recesses of the human mind -- talked about.

To achieve true marketing "enlightenment," you need to tap into fundamental human needs with your technology rather than hoping technology can inspire alone. There are at least seven of these fundamental needs:

• To be SEEN and HEARD
• To be CONNECTED to someone or something
• To be part of something GREATER THAN OURSELVES
• To have HOPE for the future
• To have the security of TRUST
• To be of SERVICE
• To want HAPPINESS for self and others

Kevin Lee from ClickZ wrote an article about how the experts in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are doing so well these days, they're ready and willing to give back to the community.

There's even a network, SEMcares, which, according to its mission statement, helps "connect volunteer and discount search engine marketers with nonprofit and other deserving organizations that could benefit from search engine marketing to drive donations or further their cause and awareness." Kevin also pointed out SEMPO, which is the nonprofit professional association of search engine marketers; he's urged them to step up the service options to benefit nonprofits.

Kevin points out that, even with the help of the Google Grant program, nonprofits continue to hire professional marketers to manage their marketing efforts. Nonprofit organizations generally need help not only with implementing ads, but with effectively developing and tracking online marketing strategies that consider both the traditional business models as well as their unique missions.