Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Please Pass The Cake

Here’s your assignment. Write 2,600 articles on fundraising. Make ‘em sharp. Give good advice. Do it for free. Any takers? We doubt it. Frankly, no sane person would do what we’re about to describe. While most of the sector’s fundraisers have been planning their vacations or busily polishing their resumes, preening and positioning to get […]

Learn More July 9, 2015

The Donor Is Not The Enemy

Of course we all know the donor is not the enemy. Don’t we? Maybe not. Given the language so much of the sector uses, I wonder. If we’re truly about the business of building committed and lasting relationships, why do we use language that is better suited for an Army field manual? As in, ‘target’ […]

Learn More July 8, 2015

Laryngitis And Online Conversion

I spent all of my July 4th holiday nursing a case of laryngitis, brought on by a lingering head cold that defies all intervention. [Any tips?] Looking for a silver lining to my situation, I found two. First, I watched more of Wimbledon than ever before. But to appear productive to my spouse … Second, […]

Learn More July 7, 2015

Getting The First Gift

Although The Agitator harps incessantly on the importance of donor retention (after all our job is to alert readers to where the real money is), the challenge of acquisition continually simmers on the back burners of our minds. It jumped to the front burner of my brain on Friday while I was decompressing in preparation for […]

Learn More July 6, 2015

Day Off

It’s Independence Day weekend in the US; today’s the legal holiday. Roger’s off lighting fireworks. I’m engaged in that favorite American 4th of July past-time … watching Wimbledon. Our US fundraising colleagues have a nice three-day window in which to plan the rest of their summer vacations. And to reflect over a beer, wine or gin […]

Learn More July 3, 2015

The Little Engine That Could

We write a lot about the tactics and techniques of big organizations. After all, they have the money to spend on the fundraising advances that we report. But far too often we neglect results. Especially the results of the small, innovative groups. Enter a tiny Dutch enviro group that shook the world of climate change […]

Learn More July 2, 2015