Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Thanks But No Thanks: Part 2

Thanks to everyone involved in the robust discussion here and on social media about the study of thank you calling on subsequent giving Kiki and Roger discussed Monday. In particular, discussion from Penelope Burk and other minds in fundraising have centered on who calls, when they call, and what is said. I’ll have a brief […]

Learn More June 19, 2019

Thanks, But No Thanks

A new study strongly questions the near-universal assumption that saying “thank you” and showing “impact” is the silver bullet for improving supporter value or increasing second gift conversion. Take a deep breath. Now, read on. Titled Do Thank-You Calls Increase Charitable Giving? Expert Forecasts and Field Experimental Evidence, the study has spawned lots of debate […]

Learn More June 17, 2019

What If We’re Wrong?

One of the central theses of Agitator | DonorVoice is that the future of fundraising lies in attracting and retaining more and more deeply committed donors. We’ve talked about how the areas of fundraising that are increasing – mid/major giving, planned giving, and recurring donations –are driven by the most committed donors to your organization. […]

Learn More June 14, 2019

The Power and Prison of Defaults

Your mind is lazy. I don’t mean that as an insult – mine is too. All ours are. We humans want to do the minimal amount of thinking and deciding. So unless there’s a good reason, we go for the default value, whether that’s taking the same route to work, eating tacos for Taco Tuesday, […]

Learn More June 12, 2019

Fundraising Loses Exceptional Friend

Most Agitator readers have just lost an exceptional friend of fundraising they didn’t even know about. Marie Burnett died last Thursday, June 6, in London. We fundraisers have lost a talented, joy-filled comrade. Her sons Joe and Charlie Burnett have lost a gregarious, loving, doting, you-add-the-adjective mother. And Ken Burnett has lost a lifelong partner of […]

Learn More June 10, 2019

Donor advised funds, part two

Last week, I talked about the $110 billion treasure trove for nonprofits that is sitting in donor-advised funds (DAFs). And there’s already enough for an update on current events. First, the day after that post, the New York Times reported on a lawsuit that has the potential to change the DAF landscape (thanks to Liz […]

Learn More June 7, 2019