Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Pew On Social Media

As in Pew Internet Research, that is. I was going to try to go the entire month of January without mentioning social media (this is chiefly a fundraising blog, after all), but here I am … caving in barely half-way into the month. Pew has published its latest round of research into social media use, […]

Learn More January 17, 2014

The Experts On Retention

Blackbaud has done the nonprofit sector a favor by compiling a new eBook, npEXPERTS: Show the Love. The eBook shares the insights of 13 leading fundraising professionals, including The Agitator’s very own Roger Craver. Here’s the line-up: The Case for Donor Retention: Why Retaining Donors is the Single Most Important Piece of Your Long-Term Fundraising […]

Learn More January 16, 2014

Take Your Pick: Overly Confident Or Confidently Stupid

“Often wrong, never in doubt.” That’s the mantra of many consultants, CEOs and development directors who survive year after year despite non or lousy performance. Like you, I’ve often wondered why so many dumb asses survive in our sector. Of course all of us know the answer: there are scores more nonprofit openings than competent […]

Learn More January 15, 2014

You Promised More Cash

OK, you did it. There you were, pressed by your CEO or Executive Director in front of the rest of the senior staff … how much net income — as in, cash we can spend this year on salaries, rent and program — will you deliver in 2014? [I appreciate that probably he or she […]

Learn More January 14, 2014

Donor Service: Cost Center Or Profit Center?

The holiday shopping season, coupled with the current wave of renewed interest in raising the minimum wage and the plight of workers at places like Walmart, got me thinking about — what else? — donor retention. Seems to me there is significant similarity between the management mindset of some of the Big Box stores and […]

Learn More January 13, 2014

What Will You Do To Improve Your Contribution?

Citing the Hilborn blog, creative whiz Jeff Brooks applauded their simple formula for fundraising success: Think like a fundraiser, feel like a donor. The point of both Hilborn and Brooks is that (and this applies especially if your fundraising role involves both method and message — marrying communication tactics to human motivation) you need to […]

Learn More January 10, 2014