Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Spotlight On Sustainers: Part 2

Today we focus on research-based best practices — not anecdotes and tribal wisdom — of what produces significant results in launching and growing sustainer programs. Yesterday, in Part 1 of the Blackbaud Institute’s Sustainers in Focus, the spotlight was on the financial pros, cons and myths surrounding monthly giving programs. Having shown the undeniable value of […]

Learn More May 18, 2017

Spotlight On Sustainers – Part One

Way back in 2011 I reported on The Future of Fundraising, a monumental session of brainiacs hosted by Blackbaud and summarized by Adrian Sargeant that sets forth needed changes if our sector is to grow and thrive. It’s well worth reading the summary to see how far we’ve come — or not — in the past six […]

Learn More May 17, 2017

“I Asked A Simple Question Online This Week”

“I Asked a Simple Question Online” wrote Tom Ahern earlier this week. Here’s the question the master donor communicator asked: . “Which charity is doing the most for Syrian refugees?” The answers were anything but simple. Here’s what he found out and he’s given The Agitator permission to reprint the whole sorry story verbatim from his […]

Learn More May 16, 2017

Are Your Fundraising Emails Getting Delivered?

A new report released today by EveryAction suggests you might be leaving substantial online fundraising revenue on the table (or should I say in the ether?) if your nonprofit is not attending properly to email deliverability issues. Their report — 2017 Nonprofit Email Deliverability Study — looked at data from 55 leading US nonprofits to determine […]

Learn More May 15, 2017

Direct Mail … You Know You Like It!

OK, we’ve devoted most of this week to ‘alternative’ fundraising … peer-to-peer and email fundraising. Time to end the week with a simple reminder about old-fasioned direct mail. Who reading this post doesn’t enjoy receiving real mail? Who, given the choice, would prefer to receive an important message — a communication whose intent you knew was […]

Learn More May 12, 2017

The death of average in nonprofit marketing

There once was a time where good enough was good enough. The difference between a top 20% medieval serf and a bottom 20% one, for example, was likely almost unnoticeable. This is not that time. And last month’s Fundraising Effectiveness Report shows us why. Here is the year-over-year gain versus loss of gifts from 2015 […]

Learn More May 11, 2017