Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Are You Writing Stories or Book Reports?

Here are two different ways to tell the story of Jack, an 87-year-old Korean War veteran who found himself struggling to make ends meet and ultimately found solace and purpose through a food bank. Version 1: The Immersive, Redemptive Arc Jack’s hands trembled as he opened the box, the familiar scent of peanut butter wafting […]

Learn More January 24, 2025

Strategic Segmentation Starts with Donors, Not Your CRM

For the sake of this post, “segmentation” in air quotes or lowercase ‘s’ isn’t segmentation at all. Most “segmentation” is real Segmentation’s lazy understudy—unprepared and ineffective. Here’s what real Segmentation is not: Mailing the same thing to different audiences Example: Renting humanitarian and social service lists and sending them the same mailing. This isn’t segmentation; […]

Learn More January 22, 2025

The Power of Small Actions in Dark Times

Today marks a stark convergence – the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and the inauguration of Donald Trump. Some see this as a day of despair. I see it as a powerful reminder of how change actually happens. The fashionable thing, naturally, would be to despair; it seems to be all the rage […]

Learn More January 20, 2025

The Frequency Machine: More Asking, Less Giving?

It took 15 days to break my resolution to not write about frequency anymore… Medium and large charities are few in numbers but have the vast majority of donors and thus, dominate the collective donor experience. And a soiled Commons affects us all. Standard fare for a medium or large charity is sending 10-20 mail […]

Learn More January 17, 2025

‘She Was Sad’ is the Most Boring Sentence Ever

“She was sad” should be in the dictionary under “tell, don’t show”. Emotion—something so central to human connection—gets watered down into the simplest, most literal words: sad, angry, happy. What if we went deeper? Imagine instead: “She was crying.” Now we’re showing. Now we’re describing. And chances are, you just felt a twinge of sadness […]

Learn More January 15, 2025

Are You There for Your Donors in Crisis, Or Just Their Donations?

As I write this, the Los Angeles area wildfires are tearing through one of the most philanthropically generous regions in America. Hard-hit communities in Los Angeles metroplex aren’t just some wealthy enclaves – they’re home to some of the most loyal, generous, and engaged donors who fuel causes and movements across the country. Think about […]

Learn More January 13, 2025