I guess DM News finally got my memo

Exactly one month ago today, I warned readers of this blog that I wasn't here to waste their time. I believe my exact words were:

Most people don't know this, but I have a magic crystal ball in my desk drawer. It has special powers that allow me to predict the future. Not only that, but I read a shit load of news stories everyday about fundraising in order to hopefully share some observations of what trends will influence our industry.I'm not trying to scare you. I only want to warn you - so pay attention.

For Pete's sake, I'm been running around with my hair on fire trying to tell fundraisers that they need to be very worried about a pending financial disaster in the global economy. Are you listening yet?

It appears Chantal Todé got my memo. An article written by Todé appeared on the DM News website yesterday with quotes from Greg Fox, SVP and chief strategy officer at database market­ing agency Merkle.

According to Merkle's data, giving is already down in some areas of the Midwest and the South, and Fox says, “there may be a correlation between [the reduced giving and] the heightened foreclo­sure rates in those markets."

Unfortunately, I think we've moved past just describing this as a "foreclosure crisis" and what we now need to deal with is a global economy that needs to unwind massive amounts of leveraged trades tied to a spreading credit crisis.

...but what do I know, I'm just "a fundraiser" with a blog.