Award Winning Blog - Agitator

The Unit of Strategy Is the Unit of Reporting

I argued here that strategy shows up in allocation. You can say “personalization” all day, but if the budget is still a campaign calendar with channel line items, campaigns are the strategic unit and everything else is garnish. The follow-on problem is reporting, which teaches the organization what counts. If you budget by campaign and […]

Learn More March 4, 2026

A Tale Of Two Charts (ok, it’s 4)

Which chart would you rather show your CEO, finance chief, or Board? Chart 1 or Chart 2? “` The answer is obvious and paradoxically, revealing, showcasing our innate desire to avoid thought of loss. The rub is that both charts use the exact same data, one shows donors acquired and retained, the other shows donors […]

Learn More March 2, 2026

We Said “Donor First.” The Budget Said “Same as Last Year.”

Henry Mintzberg is not a fundraiser. He’s one of the most cited management thinkers of the past 50 years, and the author of The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning. His most durable idea is simple: there is deliberate strategy, what leaders intend, and there is emergent strategy, the pattern that actually materializes from decisions […]

Learn More February 27, 2026

Behavioral Ruts Beat Brilliant Campaigns

For years, Domino’s believed it was in the transportation business. They spent a lot of operational time and money on speed, routing and driver density. Everything revolved around getting a box from oven to doorstep faster than the other guy. Then fees rose, tipping fatigue set in, inflation crept up and customers turned carryout into […]

Learn More February 25, 2026

Please Submit Something Disruptive That Fits in Our Spreadsheet

“We want creative and innovative ideas.” What self-respecting agency doesn’t like hearing that? The rub is when it’s neutered by also needing to forecast within three percent of plan, survive a board meeting, and resemble something a peer organization has already tested. What I’ve realized is that wanting novelty that behaves like familiarity isn’t hypocrisy, […]

Learn More February 23, 2026

Fundraising At or With?

Does your fundraising start with: “Who should we send this appeal to?” Or with: “What should we say to this person?” That distinction isn’t about creative talent, it’s about which operating system you’re running. The Volume Machine model runs on a presumption that asking is the most important activity and sameness is the efficiency lubricant […]

Learn More February 20, 2026