Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Level Three Feedback: Using Feedback to Model

You had an acquisition package that beat your control like the control owed it money. Turns out that putting in a coin and a notepad and address labels and a back-end premium in that package really increased response rate! You have a new control! Fast forward a year. Your donor file isn’t growing the way […]

Learn More March 9, 2018

What Linda and Susan can teach you about segmentation

If you are interested in learning more about segmentation, we’re doing a free webinar on April 4th called “Why your donor segmentation and lack of real donor journeys cost you donations”. This is a one–post version of what we’ll spend an hour on in that webinar. Now to Linda and Susan… Linda and Susan are […]

Learn More March 8, 2018

Level Two Feedback: Using Feedback to Fix Your Systems

The YMCA thought they knew what their members wanted. Then they asked their members. The results, from The Power of Habit: “[T]he accepted wisdom among YMCA executives was the people wanted fancy exercise equipment and sparkling, modern facilities. The YMCA had spent millions of dollars building weight rooms and yoga studios. When the surveys were […]

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Level One Donor Feedback: Fixing Things for Individuals

The first level of feedback is asking people for their thoughts and fixing problems for them. No, simply having your phone number on your website, mail, and publications and waiting for people to call is not level one feedback. It may have been at one point, but no longer. In late 2016, I tracked every […]

Learn More March 7, 2018

Donor-Centric or Faux Donor-Centric? Check the Plumbing.

When it comes to donor-centricity/obsession/love/devotion/passion I fear many fundraisers talk a good game while ignoring the fundamental and routine practices that should exist in any organization that truly cares about its donors. Tom’s and my mentor John Gardner, in his book Excellence defined the issue perfectly: “An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an […]

Learn More March 6, 2018

Are You Donor-Obsessed or Merely Donor-Centric?

Customer experience guru Gerry McGovern warns that even if a company is indeed “customer-centric” that may not be enough these days. “To truly be successful, you need to nurture a customer obsession culture within your organization.”, he warns. The Agitator says, “Amen.” So, let’s kick ‘donor-centricity’ up a notch and focus on what makes for […]

Learn More March 5, 2018