Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Finally, Bipartisan Agreement

Small-dollar donations to Trump and the GOP are way down since 2019 and 2020. Why? According to GOP insiders from a recent Washington Post article, the main culprit is they don’t treat their donors well. Loyal readers no doubt recall Roger’s many exhortations about self-inflicted wounds on the Democratic side. He cited lots of evidence, […]

Learn More April 3, 2024

Fundraising’s “Eureka” Breakthrough. Whispers of Nobel Prize.

In a groundbreaking collaboration Kevin Schulman and the DonorVoice team of behavioral scientists, along with a medical team at the National Institutes of Health have achieved the unimaginable: genetically decoding the Five Personality Traits of individual donors. The breakthrough discovery involves three steps: Step 1. Genetically identifying an individual’s Personality Traits; Step 2. Linking the […]

Learn More April 1, 2024

I have a bridge to sell you

George C Parker is a legend among con people. The man actually sold the Brooklyn Bridge. Several times. Some of his victims were picked up by police as they attempted to erect toll booths. I think of him every time fundraising advice begins with the words “all you have to do is…”. A decade or […]

Learn More March 29, 2024

AI Images in Fundraising, Help or Hurt?

Real or fake? Manipulative or justified? A charity uses composite stories to reduce expenses A charity uses composite stories to protect the anonymity of beneficiaries A photographer edits photos to reduce sensationalism A photographer edits photos to increase sensationalism A disaster relief charity uses photos from a prior disaster given safety and ethical constraints using […]

Learn More March 27, 2024

Fat on the Ends, Skinny in the Middle

Here at The Agitator, we don’t subscribe to the “we told you so” mindset. BUT…14 years ago we alerted readers to what looked like both an anatomical and fundraising failure on the part of too many nonprofits. In June of 2010 our post Cashing in on The Chasm noted, “ the much-vaunted “Fundraising Pyramid” too […]

Learn More March 25, 2024

Innovate Within the Box

“We want creative and innovative ideas”. I’ve heard that before. What’s often not stated, “but make sure they are familiar to us and have a track record of success.” It’s like asking for a brand new recipe but insisting it tastes exactly like grandma’s cooking—innovation, with a side of the way its always been done. […]

Learn More March 22, 2024