Award Winning Blog - Agitator

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

Deliberate Giving?

One. That’s likely the modal number of gift frequency for (cash, one-off) donors on your file. The average gifts per donor per year is ballpark 1.7. Really strong charities are slightly north of 2 and lousy ones are hovering a few tenths below the average. If you get cash donors to give twice per year […]

Learn More October 5, 2020

Need More Sustainers?

How about Telemarketing? More people are answering their phones these days. Contact rates are up. But, it takes more than contacts for TM success, especially if TM success is considered to be more than just conversion rates. You know you need to deliver Lifetime Value. DVCalling, the telemarketing arm of DVCanvass (and sister company to […]

Learn More October 2, 2020

O’Canada. O’Canadian Donors!

In these civically stressed days I’m thinking more and more about Canada from my perch here in Massachusetts. Not just because my Canadian wife is visiting north of the border real estate sites with increasing frequency…nor because I think more frequently about Tom Belford, my Agitator sidekick who’s now safe and sound in New Zealand. […]

Learn More September 30, 2020

Emotion and Fundraising: Will Any Emotion Do?

“People give based on emotion, not facts.” Some version of that statement is sacrosanct in marketing and fundraising. It begs several questions, not least of which is whether emotion is the cause or the goal. We know it to be the latter. But today’s post is to beg another question: what emotion? Will any emotion […]

Learn More September 28, 2020