Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Identity vs. Persona

In talking about donor identities, people will often say they’ve tried personas and they haven’t worked like they thought they would. Therefore, they aren’t going to invest more in seeking donor identities. HOWEVER…just as with donor commitment and engagement that I covered yesterday, donor identities and personas are fundamentally different. Personas are usually created […]

Learn More August 8, 2018

Commitment vs Engagement

At first blush the terms “donor commitment” and “donor engagement” sound similar. After all, is it not a truth universally acknowledged, that a loyal donor in possession of strong commitment, must also want to be engaged beyond beyond their donation? No! It is possible to be committed to an organization, but not engaged with that […]

Learn More August 7, 2018

Heroic Incrementalism

Now, more than ever, our nonprofit world cries out for “game changing” innovations and solutions. Significant breakthroughs. For many fundraisers, the term “game changing” means some big, bold innovation that can carry us into the Promised Land of Greater Response and Larger Gifts with magical ease. And so, we go through phases of abandoning the […]

Learn More August 6, 2018

Channel strategies die; donor-focused strategies are immortal

Andrew Chen’s Law of Shitty Clickthroughs: “Over time, all marketing strategies result in shitty clickthrough rates.” In addition to being the best-named marketing law, there’s great truth in this. Customers respond to a new form of marketing with excitement. Think how excited the villagers were to get the Wells Fargo wagon in The Music Man […]

Learn More August 2, 2018

Nick’s Brief Instructional Video on the Benefits of Data Hygiene

Editor’s Note: At the Agitator’s weekly editorial meeting we lamented the fact that even the most seemingly sophisticated fundraisers seem to forget the rudimentary/fundamental/absolutely necessary basics–like sending thank-you notes –which we dealt with yesterday. On the top of our list of “Needless and Dangerous Neglect”is the basic and all-important task of maintaining accurate data on […]

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The High Cost of Undervaluing Gratitude

Today I’ll avoid a detailed foray into important topics like donor identity, commitment and segmentation and instead focus on the simple, human concept of gratitude. With this question: “Why do so many nonprofits fail at the most basic task of saying “Thank You” to their donors?” Over and over The Agitator has railed about the importance […]

Learn More August 1, 2018