Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Will You Survive?

You’ve seen that they’ve been huddling in the executive conference room for the past week. The performance reviews have all been submitted. Cryptic organization charts are being carefully guarded. You know what’s coming. You were asked about alternative lines of reporting. About doing more with less staff. About your accumulated vacation days. They’re reorganising the […]

Learn More December 16, 2016

“We Amplify Pride”

“We amplify pride” … Are you kidding me?! December is the month when nonprofits unleash a tsunami of emails upon their beleaguered donors, who are far more concerned about why their Christmas tree lights won’t light. Despite the torment you cause, I’m sure all you email senders are convinced that it’s effort and resource well-spent, […]

Learn More December 15, 2016

The Importance Of Understanding Failure

An Agitator reader emailed me asking: “Why do you think most fundraisers are so resistant to innovation and change?” A good question. An important question. I attempted to answer that question three years ago when I first received it. I believe the answer bears repeating today. My first response was to bat out a kneejerk and facile response […]

Learn More December 14, 2016

Are e-News Subscribers Worth The Effort?

Following the U.S. elections, I received tons of emails from groups urging me to subscribe to their action updates, bulletins, latest news, etc. I did. But in doing so I vowed I would track the follow-up of the various organizations to see how well they did in persuading me to do more than simply sign up. […]

Learn More December 13, 2016

The Magic Of A Great Thank You

In his post Addition by Subtraction in Non Profit Marketing (or how Coke’s brand would work as a non-profit), Nick Ellinger of DonorVoice effectively points out that Coke’s success isn’t attributable to adding ‘new things’. Coke is successful because it took out what is generic. So what is generic for your nonprofit? One great candidate […]

Learn More December 12, 2016

A 10 To 1 Match I Like!

The other day, writing about the ‘sameness’ of so many #GivingTuesday appeals, Roger lamented the ubiquity of matching gifts. And rightly so. It seems America (at least) is awash with mysterious donors who are valiantly committed to matching the small gifts of the easily impressed. Every nonprofit seems to have a few of these Mystery […]

Learn More December 9, 2016