Award Winning Blog - Agitator

The Three Lines That Matter

I can’t explain why, but my ‘To do’ list for 2015 has tilted toward tactical matters — master and use online video, optimize your website for lead generation and conversions, seriously commit to building up your monthly giving program, and become the ‘unforgettable’ nonprofit to your donors (actually, this requires a certain attitude, not just […]

Learn More February 3, 2015

Shut The Barn Door!

Last week Tom appropriately boiled the pot with his posts Acquisition Addiction and Hold the Line. The Agitator’s Comments section bubbled. Tom ended his last post with this sage advice: “Any acquisition strategy should begin with a retention improvement strategy.” Amen. Rinse and Repeat: “Any acquisition strategy should begin with a retention improvement strategy.” The […]

Learn More February 2, 2015

“Hold The Line!”

My recent post — Acquisition Addiction — has caused a bit of reader consternation that The Agitator might view the ‘acquisition’ and ‘retention’ sides of fundraising as an ‘either/or’ proposition. I don’t want to leave that impression. Of course nonprofits need to prospect for new donors. However, what I am interested in (and I know […]

Learn More January 30, 2015

Call Them ‘Donors’ … Not ‘Users’

There’s a movement afoot in the tech world to put ‘people’ first — before content, before design, and before software. Hopefully the same thing will catch on in the nonprofit world and ‘donors’ will rule. For example, Facebook recently announced they have begun referring to ‘people’ as people, not users. And before Facebook weighed in, […]

Learn More January 29, 2015

The Risk Not Taken

At the start of the year Steve MacLaughlin, Blackbaud’s Director of Analytics, in his post 5 Things That Won’t Happen in 2015 hit on what I consider the biggest risk facing nonprofits these days — doing nothing. Sure, not so long ago maintaining the status quo — repeating the same activities year after year — […]

Learn More January 28, 2015

Acquisition Addiction

Acquisition addiction is to fundraisers what steroids are to professional cyclists. Its contagious nature stems from the perception that since every one else is doing/using, I’m at a competitive disadvantage if I don’t. Peer pressure at its worst. I’ve just read Are You Addicted to Acquisition?, written by Ece Ünver, on the Fundraising 101 blog. […]

Learn More January 27, 2015