Award Winning Blog - Agitator

If You Must Deal With The Boss And Board

I guess I just started out in a grumpy mood this week, on Monday implying that for most fundraisers, hanging on to their donors was too demanding, beyond their ability. Roger on Tuesday tried to find some good news in a Bloomerang study indicating that somewhat more nonprofits were monitoring their retention rates these days, an ‘accomplishment’ […]

Learn More March 31, 2017

Back To Basics: Lifetime Value (LTV)

Tom’s rant, A Man of Infinite Patience in a World of Imposters, triggered helpful comments from fellow Agitators on what can be done to help organizations better focus on understanding and measuring retention rates and other key metrics. Gail Perry suggested stamping out stupidity (mostly male) with basic education for boards and executive leaders on how fundraising works. Jay Love added the helpful […]

Learn More March 30, 2017

A Man Of Infinite Patience In A World Of Imposters

Roger surprised and impressed me yesterday with the incredible display of patience and tolerance displayed in his post, Donor Retention: Good News And Poor Excuses. The ‘good news’ in his post was that, according a Boomerang survey of 775 nonprofits, 67% are tracking their donor retention rate, as compared to 55% in 2014. That improvement […]

Learn More March 29, 2017

Donor Retention: Good News And Poor Excuses

At last! I’m pleased to report that there seems to be some evidence that more and more fundraisers are paying attention to the issue of donor retention. Although we’re far from breaking out the champagne in celebration of universal recognition that holding on to donors is an essential activity, the new Bloomerang survey, The State […]

Learn More March 28, 2017

Worst Fundraising Mistake?

Last week, Jeff Brooks, no fundraising slouch, asserted that the “worst mistake you can make” in fundraising is “confusing yourself with your donors”. Argues Jeff in this post: “Remember that your donor is different from you. She knows less (or rather, she knows different things). She’s probably quite a bit older than you. She’s paying less […]

Learn More March 27, 2017

Opt In vs Opt Out: The ‘Make or Break’ Decision In The UK And EU

Here’s a question for fundraisers in the UK and the European Union: Would you rather lose 50% or 85% of your donor base? That’s the essence of what’s at stake as fundraisers stand on the tracks staring at the fast approaching train of new regulations on donor data protection that go into effect May 2018. […]

Learn More March 24, 2017