Award-Winning Blog


The Fundraising Problem Hiding Inside a Turtle

Would you be more willing to help the spotted owl if the solution saved 10% of its habitat or 50%? Randomized experiments suggest it doesn’t matter much. Now swap out the spotted owl for reptiles and support goes down. Swap in turtles instead of lizards and support goes back up. Your $.50 Scrabble word for […]

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Stop Asking for Innovation Then Grading It Like Yesterday’s Mail Plan

“We want creative and innovative ideas.” What tends to accompany this request, though unsaid, is “as long as they feel familiar, fit our current process and come with a track record of success.”  This is innovation ordered off the kid’s menu – new idea, but hold the new. The unsaid part reveals itself subconciously through […]

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Happy Independence Day

  Roger and Kevin

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You Can Educate Donors Right Out of Giving

Donors give, and keep giving, when they feel clear enough and confident enough to say yes. Our job is to have the donor feel like they get it.  “It” being the gist of the problem, what you do about it, how their money fits and what happens next. What they don’t need is your full […]

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When Best Practice Becomes a Bad Habit

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” I always attributed that line to Mark Twain. The internet is less sure, which is fitting since I would have bet the house on Twain in the Jeopardy category of “Quotes Everyone Misattributes With […]

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AI Won’t Fix the Mess You Feed It

Somewhere in America right now, a self-proclaimed AI expert is taking the stage at a nonprofit conference. He has a logo. He has slides. He has the phrase “AI-powered fundraising transformation” in his bio. He’ll spend 45 minutes explaining what artificial intelligence means for your organization without once mentioning your data, your retention rate, or […]

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