Award-Winning Blog


You’ll never look at your A/B test the same…

Back in my salad days of working for a nonprofit (which was as of three weeks ago; time moves pretty fast nowadays), I was looking back at test results of a campaign we ran with our agency partner. We did 15 panels of 20,000 per, each with the same RFM segments in equal amount. Think […]

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When To Give Up On A Donor?

I’ve had two experiences that make me question when to give up on a non-responsive donor or member. From too many donor focus groups, I’ve carried away the observation that a startling number of donors don’t even know they’re donors — that is, donors to the specific cause or charity that has them under the lens […]

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Starting Over #10: Understand Money

As part of the Agitator’s Barriers to Growth series I noted that the shortage of investment funds for fundraising is often perceived as a major hurdle. And indeed it is. At least in the minds of far too many boards, CEOs and fundraisers. There’s an all-to-common mindset that fails to understand the importance of investment. […]

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URGENT ACTION REQUEST: Jailed in Dubai for Helping Children

A British-Australian dual national living in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates city that bills itself as a “friendly holiday resort”,  has been detained for weeks because he tried to raise money for Afghan child refugees using his Facebook page. Scott Richards, a volunteer fundraiser, has been charged by Dubai authorities for “fundraising without permission”.  He […]

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Does Your Nonprofit Need/Have A ‘Chief Customer Officer’?

Because The Agitator is so committed to improving donor retention as a strategic priority, we are equally committed to convincing fundraisers of the importance of delivering terrific donor service. You can’t control death rates, stock market collapse, or loss of employment/income as causes of diminished donor retention, but you can control the experience your organization delivers […]

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For Fundraiser Introverts

Which way would you have it …? Fundraisers should be introverts, because this more introspective personality type would be better suited for getting ‘inside the heads’ of donors and tapping their core emotional motivations. Or, Fundraisers should be extroverts, because they are more naturally equipped with the engagement skills that would better attune them to […]

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