Award Winning Blog - Agitator

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

The Investment Paradox – Barriers To Growth, Part 2

There’s no question that the shortage of investment funds for fundraising is perceived as a principal barrier to growth. That sentiment was voiced by many attending the DMANF Leadership Summit last week, and it’s certainly a reason offered in a lot of the comments and email from Agitator readers. The solution to this problem may […]

Learn More May 12, 2014

Let’s Hear It For Ugly

Our pal Jeff Brooks just wrote a post on ugly. Jeff loves ugly and he disses a poor donor prospect who tweeted that he had refused to respond to an email appeal because it was poorly designed. Here’s how Jeff defends ugly: “That’s the way fundraising goes: Ugly works. Tacky works. Corny, embarrassing, and messy […]

Learn More May 9, 2014

Are You Trusting That Trust Will Just ‘Happen’?

Commercial marketers are as concerned as nonprofits, probably even more so, about customer loyalty. And building the trust that serves as the foundation or prerequisite of loyalty. This article by Stephanie Miller of the Direct Marketing Association, Investing in Trust to Gain Loyalty, gives some insight into the commercial direct marketer’s thinking about loyalty and […]

Learn More May 8, 2014