Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Top Five Barriers to Retention

We fundraisers love lists. Most are of the “Top Five Steps to Success” variety. Frankly, I’ve always been more intrigued with the “Top Five Steps NOT to Take”. Just as someone who’s just learning to ride a bike wouldn’t attempt to mount it wearing a 40-pound backpack or peddle with flat tires, there are several […]

Learn More October 15, 2018

The Warm Glow Commodity

Some English words have become their own opposites. “Dust” can mean to add dust or remove dust (so, technically, I have dusted my office bookshelves). “Sanction” can mean to permit or to penalize. “Fake news” can be news that is fake or news that one wishes were fake. I mention this because “commodity” is one […]

Learn More October 11, 2018

Why the Retention Resistance?

I shuddered as I read Nick’s post on the latest –and dismally declining—donor retention rates. Here are the sorry figures from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) comparing the first six months of 2018 with those of 2017: Total donors are down 6.6% New donors are down 9.2% New retained donors are down 18% Repeat retained […]

Learn More October 9, 2018

A Sober Reflection on Latest Retention Data

EVERYBODY PANIC! It may not be necessary to run into the streets wailing uncontrollably and rending our garments. But there’s probably a need for more panic about retention than is evident out there. Back in April, we looked at the 2017 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Report. The good news was that retention was up. The bad […]

Learn More October 8, 2018

Learning from Politics: Building the Tools You Need

Monday was about a Republican technique; Wednesday was bipartisan; today will be a Democratic technique. Traditional voter registration techniques are shotgunned at best. Volunteers stand at malls, go to concerts, or go door-to-door in a neighborhood hoping to find people who aren’t registered. In looking at Texas, Erez Cohen, formerly of Mapsense and Apple Maps, […]

Learn More October 5, 2018

Learning from Politics: Chip In Change for Change

You’ve seen the headlines: “Americans more divided than ever”, “Gridlock reaching threat level crimson, which is worse than red somehow”, and “Pelosi-McConnell West-Side-Story-style dancing knife fight leaves two dead; four injured.” The two major parties here in the United States seemingly can’t agree on anything. But here’s a ray of hope. They can agree on […]

Learn More October 3, 2018