Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Going Mainstream?

A couple of days ago, the Chronicle of Philanthropy excitedly announced that online fundraising has gone “mainstream”. Wow, I thought … can’t wait to see the tsunami of dollars raised. However, it turned that the Chron was simply echoing findings of others like Blackbaud and Network for Good that online fundraising enjoyed strong year-over-year growth […]

Learn More May 20, 2014

Lousy Boards — Barriers To Growth, Part 3

Alfred Sloan was the General Motors Chair and CEO who led GM from the 1920s through the ‘50s and grew it to become largest corporation on Earth at the time. In a board meeting at GM, Sloan asked the board about an important decision: “I take it that everyone is in basic agreement about this […]

Learn More May 19, 2014

What Your Story Must Tell

You’ve probably heard a zillion times by now that the best marketing communications involve telling stories. Stories that define your brand. Stories that your customers/donors can readily absorb and respond to emotionally. Stories penetrate. So, are you telling stories? And how effectively? Here’s a branding creative, Chad Cipoletti, writing on the subject, Three Questions Every […]

Learn More May 16, 2014

Top Fundraising Fallacies

Building on Drayton Bird’s blog, Five shocking lessons from a lifetime in marketing, Jeff Brooks added some fundraising spin of his own with 5 things you wish you already knew. Jeff inspired me to think more specifically about basic marketing mistakes fundraisers make. Here is my first pass at a list of ‘Top Fundraising Fallacies’ […]

Learn More May 15, 2014

Petition Signer To Donor

Demonstrating what should be a staple in your acquisition toolkit, here’s a brief ‘petition-to-donor’ case study from Care2, involving the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). Very straightforward. AWF’s petition to stop illegal wildlife poaching was promoted across the Care2 online network. In two weeks, the petitions attracted 29,000 signers, each furnishing online and mail contact info. […]

Learn More May 14, 2014