My daughter and I raced to our beach towels and plopped down. I turned to grab my clothes...

Where's our bag?! I frantically asked my husband.

In a few short minutes, while distracted by the sea glass my daughter found, our vacation in Spain turned into a few days of wild password-changing from my laptop and many hours at the police station. The rest of our time was spent navigating European cities in true 90s-style fashion.

I've talked a lot this year about going more analog, and not having access to everything 24/7 really pushed me into being more present and connecting with locals.

When we got back to the US and I logged into my apps, I felt extremely overwhelmed.

AI this.

"You'll get left behind" that.

"X ways to increase revenue."

There's so much noise. This can't be what we spend most of our time on. There have to be better ways of connecting. Ones that bring deeper relationships and tangible outcomes.

In my inbox and on LinkedIn, many of you have also expressed wanting your organization to become more analog.

More in-person events.

More direct mail.

Low-effort ways for supporters to get involved.

And maybe my expensive mistake on a beach in Spain will benefit you, because I've been adding to ideas I've had about helping you cultivate a stronger community.

Email is my bread and butter, and I truly believe it's worth investing in. But I don't want that to be the only avenue of connection you're creating for your organization.

So you'll get to build these analog ways with me, Reader. I don't even know what that fully means yet, but you'll be the first to hear about it and test the ideas to create more human-to-human connections. This is something I'm building in public, and I hope you'll follow along.

Technology is a great tool, but we can't let ourselves forget what it means to be deeply human. After all, your mission depends on humanity, not the latest bot.

I'm curious... how do you want to create deeper connection in 2026 and beyond? Click reply and let me know. I'd love for you to be a part of this conversation!

Stay kind, -Amanda

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PS: Hannah and I are wrapping up our done-for-you Annual Impact Report soon. If an Annual Impact Report is on your to-do list for the next 6 months, get the details here and snag your spot on our calendar. Time is running out, so grab a no-pressure call with us before the remaining spots are filled!