Award Winning Blog - Agitator

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 […]

Learn More August 19, 2016

A visit from the ten percent genie

You are walking down your favorite beach. As the water laps at your toes, you kick back at the surf absent-mindedly. After all, your mind is still partly back at the office on your direct marketing program. It’s not that it’s doing badly per se. It’s just not doing great. And it’s getting harder. Response […]

Learn More August 18, 2016

And Don’t Miss These ‘Top Ten’ …

At the end of each quarter our friends over at the crowdblog 101Fundraising list their 10 posts that received the highest readership according to Google Analytics. Here’s 101’s listing for the 2nd Quarter. Something here for everyone. Read on! Roger 1. Three Powerful Major Gift Questions You Might Not Be Asking – Karen Osborne 2. How to […]

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Fundraising As A Driver Of Social Justice

On a hot August afternoon 46 years ago I dropped my first direct mail campaign at the main post office in Washington, D.C. The 250,000 envelopes contained a six-page letter that began “Everybody’s organized but the people…” announcing the formation of a new “citizens lobby” called Common Cause. It was a big gamble. Few organizations […]

Learn More August 17, 2016

Inspire With Video

Speaking from a fundraising perspective, I love online videos. For many reasons … creativity, often humor, delivery of raw emotion, ‘gotta see it’ urgency, connection. But the bottomline, stats like this from Mobile Cause: 57% of online donors make a gift after watching a video. Crowdfunding pages that are promoted by a video raise 4 times […]

Learn More August 16, 2016

Two Copywriting Treasures

To say Jerry Huntsinger, who recently celebrated his 83th birthday, is a direct mail copywriting genius, is an understatement. It’s like saying the late Steve Jobs ‘tinkered with electronic gadgets’. I’ve worked with Jerry for 45 years on literally hundreds of campaigns and Tom and I have frequently pointed readers toward Jerry’s copywriting wisdom ever […]

Learn More August 15, 2016