Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Charitable Giving Up Dramatically in 2nd Quarter. PLUS, a Bonus for Agitator Readers

The fundraising hand wringers and bed wetters had a pandemic field day when the 1st Quarter 2020 Fundraising Effectiveness Report (FEP) was released in in June announcing a 6% decline or $25 billion in lost revenue for nonprofits mainly attributable to a notable drop in individual giving in March. BUT….at the time, some optimism poked […]

Learn More October 21, 2020

Advance Notice: Online Course– The Science of Supporter Motivation

For several years we’ve been reporting the research and results of pilot projects conducted by the behavioral scientists at DonorVoice. Charities around the world have seen improved conversion, increased value and improved retention. Quite frankly, although their results have been more than impressive, for most fundraisers applying the principles behind these successes is not recipe […]

Learn More October 19, 2020

Myth Busting: Trust in Charities is NOT Declining

We’ve busted many a myth, including: MYTH: Ask more = make more. BUSTED: Never the full story and often wrong. Most often the practice shifts dollars forward and creates significant irritation (through volume) that directly decreases retention and donor value. The myth represents a grossly oversimplified ‘formula’ that violates the maxim, make things as simple […]

Learn More October 16, 2020

Political Hypocrites–The Digital Variety

Visions of Grandma Craver appeared after I received a note from Nick alerting me to a project at Princeton University analyzing political emails. Grandma Craver despised hypocrites. No matter whether their hypocrisy was of the religious, moral, or political variety she simply labeled them all with the disdainful phrase: “Everyone who talks about heaven ain’t […]

Learn More October 14, 2020

The “Donor” Identity is Lame

I’m a woman and a coffee lover. But being a coffee lover isn’t one of the most important ways I define myself, while being a woman is. This simplistic example illustrates the difference between identity presence, whether one has a certain identity, and identity importance, how central that identity is for their sense of self. […]

Learn More October 9, 2020

Sheila Martin-Stone: Pioneer, Activist and Friend Dead at 84

Sheila Martin-Stone, 84, whose pioneering work in mailing list management played a major role in building the fundraising powerhouse of direct mail fueling progressive causes and candidates, died Monday at her home in Oakdale, California. In 1972 she founded Triplex Direct Marketing just as dozens of today’s household names in progressive advocacy—Common Cause, NARAL, NOW, […]

Learn More October 7, 2020