Award Winning Blog - Agitator

No Marketing Department?

Rarely do I disagree with creative/copywriting whiz Jeff Brooks. But in a recent excerpt from his new book, The Money-Raising Nonprofit Brand (see, I flogged it), he argues that one of the six signs of a well-run nonprofit is that it has no marketing department. Jeff argues: “…the very existence of a marketing department lets […]

Learn More August 26, 2014

Buy Roger’s Book … Or Else!

Roger has written a book on donor retention. It’s titled: Retention Fundraising: The New Art and Science of Keeping Your Donors for Life. And FINALLY … it’s ready to order! I’ve read the book four times now in its various draft iterations. And learned more each time. And I thought I was already on top […]

Learn More August 25, 2014

Pack Your Bags

This might be a good weekend to make some fall travel and conference plans. Or so I was reminded by a call from Erica Waasdorp of the firm A Direct Solution, who is serving as U.S. Ambassador for the International Fundraising Congress (IFC) held annually in The Netherlands.. The IFC is truly one of the […]

Learn More August 22, 2014

The Devil Is In The Detail

OK, we’ve got a tested strategy. We’ve developed a great case. We’ve targeted our appeal carefully. We’re using the latest database-driven capability. We’ve got terrific creative. But we flubbed it! What went wrong? Here’s a flub from KQED, public TV/radio in San Francisco. They were on the right track, but they screwed up the personalization […]

Learn More August 21, 2014

What’s Your Line?

I’m a sucker. Headlines like this always grab my attention: The Best and Worst Words to use in Email Subject Lines — New Research. Confess … which online fundraiser amongst you isn’t poised to click on that article and discover the magic words that will double your open rates? “Belford! You haven’t hotlinked to the […]

Learn More August 20, 2014

I’ll Take My Fundraising Cannibalism On the Rocks

As of yesterday, the high visibility ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ had produced $15.6 million from existing donors, plus 307,598 new donors for The ALS Association. The campaign designed to build awareness and support research for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, goes like this: People make a video of themselves or a friend dumping […]

Learn More August 19, 2014