Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Alfred Hitchcock: nonprofit fundraiser

At the movies today, when you can see a robot punch an alien in the head in dizzying 3D, it’s interesting to remember more intimate things that race our pulse and stand up our neck hairs. The idea that your neighbor could be a killer, that he’s in the house, and your leg is broken. […]

Learn More November 17, 2016

Get ‘Em While The Grief Is Hot – Part 1

If your organization’s advocacy mission is directly related to or affected by the results of the 2016 elections, I hope you’re in the mail, on the phone, online and meeting with your donors right now. Don’t wait. Don’t sit around in endless meetings and plan. Just get out there and ask for help. Give your donors and […]

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Fundraise Til We Drop?

I just read an article worrying about fundraising prospects in the post-Boomer world. Worryingly, it cited the Blackbaud study estimating that Boomers and older adults account for 69% of giving in the U.S. … and of course with the sub-text: they’ll start dying. There’s plenty of stuff to read about that particular Armageddon, so I […]

Learn More November 16, 2016

Stop Driving Your Donors Away

Do you really know what good donor service looks like? I sure hope so, because as we’ve reported before, nearly 20% of all donors who drop out quit because of lousy donor service. Consequently, any organization serious about improving its retention rates had better be deadly serious about the quality of donor services it provides. […]

Learn More November 15, 2016

Show Up … Brain On!

After several days of reflection, including a perhaps alcohol-fueled weekend of deep angst (or maybe glee), you’ve had a chance to absorb the meaning of President-elect Donald Trump for your organization, its mission and its fundraising needs. Now it’s Monday. Time to grab yourself by the shoulders, slap cold water in your face, gulp a […]

Learn More November 14, 2016

7 Conversion-Killing Words

Most of the time you read advice about words that are good to use in fundraising … like ‘you’. But here’s a fascinating article on seven words to avoid on your website conversion pages. And guess what, ‘you’ — actually ‘your’ — is one of them! The other six … Submit (implies ‘yielding’, something […]

Learn More November 11, 2016