Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Father Edward Cappelletti, SDB: 1921-2013

A powerful testament to the life of a true hero to the poor and needy was unfolding in the Central African Republic on December 12th, the day veteran fundraiser Father Edward Cappelletti died at age 92. In dangerous and heartbreaking circumstances, 20,000 men, women and children fleeing in terror for their lives were being protected […]

Learn More December 19, 2013

What’s Your Call?

Over the last 75 years, the PGA Tour (Professional Golfers Assn) says it has made nearly $2 billion in donations to charities — from St Jude Children’s Research Hospital to Boys & Girls Club to myriad local charities. But it might surprise you to learn that the PGA Tour is a nonprofit business league (501(c)6, […]

Learn More December 18, 2013

Buying By Mobile

According to Yesmail’s Email Compass Report, 16% of all sales driven by email occur via a mobile device, slightly more on tablets than smartphones. My guess is the same is happening with your fundraising emails, which curiously seem to multiply exponentially in December! Moreover, mobile now accounts for over 52% of all email opens, an […]

Learn More December 17, 2013

Simply The Best

I’m never disappointed with how Charity:Water goes about raising funds to deliver safe, clean water to those who need it. Their year-end fundraising campaign is a great example of doing it right. Here’s a screenshot of the email appeal I received … Since this is a year-end appeal, and the recipient already knows all about […]

Learn More December 16, 2013

Why We Don’t Trust Data

Angie Moore, in Tuesday’s FS Online post Predicting Weather is not Like Predicting Donations, notes that a good many fundraisers deny themselves the benefits of predictive modeling simply because, just like the weather forecast, they don’t understand what’s behind it. Given the “increasingly crowded and competitive landscape”, Angie urges fundraisers to drop their current, and […]

Learn More December 13, 2013

Death Of A Fundraising Pioneer

Russ Reid, a pioneer in monthly giving and direct response television (DRTV), died Saturday, December 7 at his home in Sierra Madre, California. He was 82 years old. Word of Russ’ death reached The Agitator via Tom Harrison, the chairman of the agency that Reid founded in 1964 and that still bears his name. Tom’s […]

Learn More December 12, 2013