Award Winning Blog - Agitator

A 37-Item Packing List, Ten-Toed Socks, and One Very Good Reason to Give

Ken Burnett — for those who’ve somehow missed the last 40 years of fundraising civilization — is walking 500 miles across Spain. Again. He did this five years ago for SOFII, the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration. He raised £21,000. He is now, by his own admission, “five years older and more than a […]

Learn More March 27, 2026

Zelensky Has Better Donor Data Than You Do

There’s a stack of direct mail somewhere in America right now — a #10 envelope with carrier teaser, a 4-page letter, a reply device, a return envelope — traveling toward a donor who gave $25 last August. The organization spent more producing it than they will ever see back. Nobody decided this. It just keeps […]

Learn More March 25, 2026

Early, Often… and Overrated: More on the Second Gift Myth

Solicitation frequency. Not exactly cocktail party conversation but conversation starter nevertheless. Here is a look at 3 organizations, 7 full years of giving, all reglious, and all mailing a lot, I mean a lot; 30-50 times a year, not a typo. To restate, much conventional wisdom rests on these two points Get the second gift […]

Learn More March 23, 2026

Your Second Gift Data Is Lying To You

There’s a finding that circulates enough in fundraising circles that it’s treated as established fact: donors who receive a second ask within 30 days of their first gift give again at much higher rates than those who wait five weeks or more. The implied takeaway is straightforward; ask again quickly, capture the momentum. Except the […]

Learn More March 20, 2026

When the Close Up Image Doesn’t Work

Hopeful or sad for your appeal? It sounds like a practical choice, which is probably why it sticks around. But it pushes into the wrong level of thinking by assuming emotion is a dial you adjust independently as single variable when instead, it’s more of a holistic, gut level reaction. How many appeals are you […]

Learn More March 18, 2026

The Charity Image That Quietly Signals Agency

Same hands, same object being transferred, same charitable context; just a small shift in vertical position. On the left, the donor’s hand sits below the recipient’s, on the right, it’s above. Donors donated more in a split test when the donor’s hand appeared higher in the frame. The reason is straightforward, humans interpret vertical space […]

Learn More March 16, 2026