Award Winning Blog - Agitator

It Takes A (Personality) Village

The goal of diversity is better ___________. There are lots of ways to fill in that blank; one option is business success. And there are lots of ways to define diversity, one of which is how we see the world, our innate traits. This first bar chart shows companies broken out by number of […]

Learn More October 27, 2023

The Donor’s Experience Matters But Not Equally

Word of mouth is an interesting phenomenon because it’s inherently organic and somewhat unpredictable and impossible to turn off. If you have an online presence you’ll get word of mouth whether you want it or not. And even if you could erase your online presence, there’ll forever be ‘offline’ WOM. And while charities aren’t purpose […]

Learn More October 25, 2023

Kevin and My Fundraising Death Cleaning

The only time I think much about death is when I lovingly write an obit for one of our long-time colleagues. Sadly, an incidence of increasing frequency. Kevin’s post Is Your Direct Mail Funnel All Bookends did however bring forth some thoughts on preparing for death. More accurately, some direct mail insights gathered while implementing […]

Learn More October 23, 2023

Is Your Direct Mail Funnel All Bookends?

We send out X pieces, Y people respond. Done and dusted. This isn’t a funnel, it’s two bookends and no books. You’re missing out on the stories, lessons, and nuances contained within the “books” in the middle – the donor behavior, preference and needs in these crucial steps. Here’s a much more complete mental model […]

Learn More October 20, 2023

What Happens When All the Paper Checks Are Gone?

There was a day when the last phone call was made by rotary dial. Similarly, the last buggy manufactured, and the last VCR tape inserted. And someday is a day in the horizon when the last paper check will be written. But we needn’t wait for that day as it’s already dawning and as European […]

Learn More October 18, 2023

Beware the Danger of Status Quo Fundraising

Direct response fundraisers face an uncertain future (declining number of donors, declining retention rates, increased costs, increased shortage of experienced staff are just a few of the troubling indicators). So, in figuring out how to navigate choppy waters it’s helpful to understand that the default position for most of our sector is to resist […]

Learn More October 16, 2023