Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Fresh Opportunity For Direct Mail Fundraisers

No direct mail isn’t dead. It’s the workhorse, delivering by far the preponderance of individual donations, at least in the US. Still, if you need some encouragement about the future of direct mail, read on. On numerous occasions, The Agitator has urged US fundraisers to shift some focus and resource to the growing Hispanic population. […]

Learn More July 9, 2014

Thank God For These Studies!

If your job is to raise money or to fashion communications designed to move donors, members or supporters to take action, then I have two monumental, ‘stop everything you’re doing’ studies to share with you. Not! The first study was reported by the NY Times with the headline: Donors Give More When They Have a […]

Learn More July 8, 2014

CEO Compensation: Value vs. Price

For some inexplicable reason, Tom let our subscription to Air Force Times lapse. Nonetheless, a Tweet from @nonprofitnews alerted me to an Air Force Times ‘exclusive’. Important in terms of the questions it triggers. The Agitator never sleeps. Headlined, Nonprofit CEO Cashing In On Religious Freedom Campaign, the paper breathlessly announced that Michael (‘Mikey‘) Weinstein, […]

Learn More July 7, 2014

More Fireworks Please

[Editors’ Note: Eight years ago, to honor Independence Day in the United States we wrote the following on the importance of change and innovation. Seems to us it’s still, sadly, quite on point. We’re surely not seeing enough fireworks for change. Roger and Tom] As We The People celebrate America’s 230th Independence Day amid fireworks, […]

Learn More July 4, 2014

How To Talk To Donors About Fundraising Costs And Ethics

I have no idea how much traction the CNN story on the New York Attorney General’s settlement will get. Nor whether it will trigger any, many or no donor inquiries to your organization or your clients. Nonetheless, good Boy Scout that Tom is, I’ve adopted his motto: “Be Prepared.” So, here’s some Agitator advice on […]

Learn More July 3, 2014

$24 Million Fine … Yawn!

Yesterday Roger did a yeoman job of laying out the sordid story of Quadriga and its fellow travelers. From a ‘moving forward’ standpoint, perhaps his three key points, aimed directly at Agitator readers, were these: “…fundraising companies, consultants and their copywriters — this means everyone involved in this sector, no weaseling — has the duty […]

Learn More July 2, 2014