Award Winning Blog - Agitator

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

Seven things you can stop doing today in direct marketing

I wish I knew what they were. Don’t get me wrong: there are seven things you can stop doing today in your direct marketing program and it will have little to no impact. I just don’t know what they are yet. I was re-reading Power of Habit the other day and a case study jumped out […]

Learn More November 10, 2016

‘James Caan’ Talks Retention

In his youth, curly-haired Roger was often mistaken for James Caan, actor of The Godfather fame. You’ll recall that Sonny Corleone was a hothead. And nothing makes Roger hotter than fundraisers’ neglect of donor retention. In this cameo appearance with fundraiser Amy Eisenstein, Roger discusses the basics of retention, starting with, “Say Thank You”. And plugs a book […]

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What’s Next?

We all woke up on this post-election morning to uncertainty and turmoil. What does the election of Donald Trump mean? Of course, no one really knows. Fear, anger, hope, disappointment, rage and joy bounce off our collective emotional wall. Those of us in progressive advocacy fundraising view President-elect Trump as the Orange Menace. Civil liberties, […]

Learn More November 9, 2016

Does Election Make A Difference?

In fundraising terms, does the outcome of the U.S. presidential election matter to your nonprofit? Depending on who wins, are you expecting … A stock market crash, choking off your year-end major gifts? A stock market boom, fueling better than expected contributions? A spike in bequest awards, reflecting a spike in heart failures? A major […]

Learn More November 8, 2016