Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Door Acquisition Series #3 – NEEDED: A Better Plan

Many fundraisers tell me that donor acquisition is one of their biggest problems. If that is truly the case then why in the world are they attempting to solve such a big problem with cookie-cutter strategies and woefully incomplete plans and procedures? Part of the answer may lie in the silos that exist separating ‘acquisition’ […]

Learn More January 25, 2016

Avoiding Excommunication

This January, like all previously, my in-box is full of marketing prognostications about the coming year — which channels must get more attention, new skills that must be mastered, where marketers are going to spend more money, plus expected trends, trends and more trends. I plow through most of them, and most recently, from Direct […]

Learn More January 22, 2016

Unconscious (Dis)Trust

With his two (so far) in-depth articles on donor acquisition, Roger’s been laying on some heavy stuff to start off the new year. And he’s still ‘just’ talking about how to determine how much to spend (that is, invest) in acquisition and the concepts/metrics involved. See here and here. Yet to come are subjects like […]

Learn More January 21, 2016

Donor Acquisition Series #2 – Lifetime Value: The Key Metric

A drunk loses the keys to his house and is looking for them under a lamppost. A cop comes over and asks what he’s doing. “I’m looking for my keys,” he says. “I lost them over there.” The policeman looks puzzled. “Then why are you looking for them all the way over here?” “Because the […]

Learn More January 20, 2016

Deliverance From Doodles

I have a great suggestion for surviving your next nonprofit meeting. Dump your doodles and download this app: The Harvard Business Review Meeting Cost Calculator I shudder each time I think of the amount of time that’s spent discussing and measuring the inane minutiae that is the stuff of all too many meetings. Eyes glaze […]

Learn More January 19, 2016

Elizabeth Verdow Says ‘Thank You’

Last week, Roger kicked off our acquisition ‘offensive’ for the year by focusing first on bringing the right mindset to the acquisition challenge. And that’s an investment mindset, based on understanding the lifetime value of your typical donor. Of course it’s prudent to base your LTV calculations on the typical donor and set your prospecting […]

Learn More January 18, 2016