Award Winning Blog - Agitator

If Only I Knew What You Know

Can you imagine your doctor practicing medicine without a clear understanding of best practices? (“Now let me see, some docs prescribe a 2 day course of penicillin, the guy down the hall says 15 days, but I think 4 days are about right.”) Or … hiring a lawyer who worked only on intuition, ignoring case law […]

Learn More November 19, 2015

Kiss 8 Of 10 Good-Bye

Looking at 2014 data from over 8,000 respondent groups, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project reports that on average nonprofits retain only two out of ten first time donors. That’s not a misprint: the retention rate for first time donors is a scant 19%. Below you’ll find an infographic from Bloomerang illustrating this and related retention stats. […]

Learn More November 18, 2015

Paris And A Sector Of Optimistic Grinders

Tom Watson has written an excellent column in the Chronicle of Philanthropy reflecting on the aftermath of the Paris attacks — The Horror of the Paris Attacks Reminds Us Why Nonprofits Matter. He opens fittingly with this quote from Voltaire: “Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.” Commenting on the […]

Learn More November 17, 2015

In Search of the Silver Bullet

Over the weekend I worked on the ‘Top 10 Bad Practices’ section of a book I’m writing. Because this is the season when many groups are putting out or reviewing Requests for Proposal (RFPs), I thought I’d share some of my notes — and a special video — with you in case you’re on either […]

Learn More November 16, 2015

Myanmar Tops In Giving

The Charities Aid Foundation (UK) has published its World Giving Index, which uses three simple questions to measure ‘giving’ around the world. The Gallup polling organization asked these questions in 145 countries during 2014. Here are the questions: Have you done any of the following in the past month? Helped a stranger, or someone you […]

Learn More November 13, 2015

Beware Of The Sustainer Strangler

I know you have lots on your plate as we near year-end. But if you have monthly sustaining donors or any type of installment givers, please add this data processing/payment processing morsel to your ‘Urgent: To Do’ list. In response to the rising tide of credit card theft and fraud over the past few years, […]

Learn More November 12, 2015