Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Has Your Organization Been Hacked?

Nonprofit groups breathing a sigh of relief because, unlike their organizational cousins in politics, they’re not targets of Russian hacking should take another and deeper breath–and gasp. Despite the current headlines and cable news furor over the astonishing and frightening firestorm of Donald Trump’s Tweets accusing his predecessor, President Obama, of wiretapping Trump Tower, this item appearing in Bloomberg News […]

Learn More March 7, 2017

Thanks In Advance

Believe it or not, those three words — Thanks in advance — have magical properties. Which this post is actually testing … I’ll come back to that in a moment. Every fundraiser knows the importance of timely donor thank you’s. But when it comes to online fundraising, turns out that it might be very helpful […]

Learn More March 6, 2017

Is PayPal Really Your Pal?

Earlier this week The New York Times reported a federal class action lawsuit accusing the PayPal Giving Fund of collecting contributions for groups that may never receive the funds. According to the Times, “ The philanthropic website by PayPal, the digital payment company, has become a major player in online fund-raising for charitable organizations worldwide, processing […]

Learn More March 2, 2017

The donorcentricity debate

There was a vigorous debate over at our friends at The Agitator about the nature of being focused on the donor, with topics like whether a “you” focus is sufficient to be donorcentric. Virtual blows were thrown, clarifications made, blood pressures checked. At the same time, I had the opportunity to be with several nonprofit […]

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Fundraising And ‘Connected Spenders’

Do you need to know the latest consumer spending behavior in Indonesia, Pakistan and Nigeria? Probably not a lot of those addresses on your donor list … nor on any mailing list! But as it happens, by 2025 these three countries will be among the top ten countries on the planet that are home to […]

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Your Ultimate Final, Penultimate Final, Last Final Renewal Notice. Absolutely. We’re Serious.

In Are You Beggar or a Fundraiser, Tom featured an email appeal from the Democratic Congressional Campaign (DCCC) that exuded the distinct odor of desperation. ‘Desperate’-sounding because the copy — screaming ‘FINAL NOTICE’ in stark black and red type — reminded the donor that “you have 8 missed messages to renew your Democratic membership.” Well, Tom, […]

Learn More March 1, 2017