Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Cats And Dogs And Donors

In one of his most clever and amusing posts ever, What my cat taught me about fundraising, fundraising creative Jeff Brooks gives us an important warning about relationships built upon delusions. He notes that the delusions he and his cat have about each other — the cat thinks Jeff’s a cat, and Jeff thinks the cat […]

Learn More January 27, 2017

And yet it moves: Galileo on mail quantity

It is the fate of glass to break. Likewise, dogmas. Galileo knew it. Whether or not he actually said “and yet it moves” after recanting the heresy that the earth moves around the sun*, he knew that knowledge, like life or science, finds a way. I have believed the one about “mail more, make more” for most […]

Learn More January 26, 2017

The Dangerous Dictum Of “Mail More, Make More”

I love home remedies and old folk tales. They have their place in the Farmer’s Almanac and on embroidered wall hangings, but they’re grossly over-used and too often accepted as ‘truth’ or ‘best practices’ in fundraising. Perhaps no myth is potentially more dangerous for the long-term health of an organization than the clichéd dictum: “Mail […]

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Tips From The E-Commerce World

I was fishing (not phishing) for some e-marketing tips and came across an article titled, Eight Myths E-Commerce Marketers Must Stop Believing In. Overall, the article is more pertinent to commercial marketers, but it did include a couple of points worth passing along. First, it was great to read about the acquisition myth: “Traditionally, most […]

Learn More January 25, 2017

Climate Change And The Small Gift Donor

Ten years ago, in Danger Ahead, Tom and I warned of steady decline in the overall number of smaller gift donors. Although many heard the warning, few apparently did anything about it. Today, a decade later the downward spiral continues. The cumulative effects of this ten year 25% decline are real and frightening. Fundraisers and […]

Learn More January 24, 2017

Snap Out Of It!

In his post Friday — Presidential Inauguration Day in the U.S. — Roger admonished us … “My greatest concern today is for those who have become mired in fear, bogged down in some naïve cynicism, intent on tweeting and texting their shared disappointment and rage in a self-reinforcing loop of misery and despair. Snap out […]

Learn More January 23, 2017