Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Are You Abusing Your Donors?

Over the weekend I read a piece by Gerry Adams on his New Thinking blog that got me wondering whether in the name of ‘donor engagement’, ‘donor experience’ and ‘multi-channel marketing’ many nonprofits are in fact abusing their donors. Let me explain. Using a 2014 Ernst & Young study of 24,000 insurance consumers, Gerry noted that […]

Learn More March 17, 2015

Pontificating Versus Ranting

A recent email to The Agitator urged Roger and me, among other things, to stop pontificating. Wanting to know precisely the crime we were accused of, I consulted the Oxford Dictionary, where I found this definition: Pontificate: Express one’s opinions in a pompous and dogmatic way. Hmmm, I concluded, she must have been talking about Roger. […]

Learn More March 16, 2015

An A+ For Greenpeace

I received an irresistible email from Greenpeace today. Its subject line was: Is this you Tom? How could you NOT open an email like that? What did they catch me doing?! I’ll wager a very high open rate for these emails. The personalized email develops into a pitch for volunteers to undertaken some undisclosed mission for […]

Learn More March 13, 2015

LTV … The GPS For Fundraisers

As I emphasize repeatedly in my book, Retention Fundraising, over the long haul, Lifetime Value (LTV) is the most significant measure for benchmarking and steering your fundraising efforts. In fact, as Charlie Hulme, head of DonorVoice’s U.K. operation, puts it, “Unless you believe you’ll find the cure/right the wrong/feed every child with your next appeal, it’s […]

Learn More March 12, 2015

Donor Trends For 2015

Last week, Fundraising Success ran 4 Nonprofit Donor Demographics Trends for 2015 in which four fundraisers offered their prognostications. Actually, most of the comments were more about the future in general, as opposed to 2015 per se. I love to bounce my own speculation against other crystal-ballers, so here goes. 1. Sustainer giving The most happy-making observation, from Carl […]

Learn More March 11, 2015

Nonprofit Video Winners

The 2015 DoGooder Video Award winners were announced last week at the Nonprofit Technology Conference. The awards are sponsored by the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), YouTube, and See3. The Best Nonprofit Video Award went to The Breath Before created by the UK’s Cystic Fibrosis Trust. The ImpactX Award went to Now Is the Time for […]

Learn More March 10, 2015