Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Dangerous Myth #1: Too Much Solicitation Causes Poor Retention

In the run-up to last year’s winter holidays I posted Don’t Eat the Poinsettia as an appropriate reminder that in fundraising — as in life — there are many myths we take for gospel. Some false or untrue myths like “Don’t swallow your gum; it stays in your stomach for seven years”, or “Don’t sit […]

Learn More October 3, 2013

Fundraisers As Travel Agents

Yesterday I asked you as a fundraiser to consider: Are you a valued guide to your donors, or simply a nuisance paparazzi? That question elicited a message from Tony Elischer at THINK Consulting. He forwarded a recent piece he’d written titled: How are you managing the Donor Journey? Tony suggests that fundraisers regard themselves as […]

Learn More October 2, 2013

Guides Or Paparazzi?

Commenting on a recent Agitator post, Claire Axelrad noted: “…transformational fundraising is about igniting the spark of passion that brings human beings joy. That’s why fundraisers (the good ones) are to be treasured, not castigated. The good ones are guides and leaders, not paparazzi.” What a vivid (negative) image that gave me … fundraisers as […]

Learn More October 1, 2013

A Dangerous Myth – Over-solicitation causes poor retention.

We don’t typically name names in these posts. However, on occasion, it is required. Penelope Burk, of Cygnus Research makes this claim, “Over-soliciting and insisting on unrestricted gifts are largely why 65% of donors who make a first gift never make a second and why 90% or more donors who start giving are gone within […]

Learn More September 30, 2013

Top 5 Innovative Fundraising Ideas

Today I’m shamelessly exploiting the hard work of Angie Moore, who recently reported 50 Innovative Fundraising Ideas she collected from readers of Fundraising Success. I’ve boiled her list down to my own Top 5. In no particular order, here goes. No actually, #1 deserves to be #1 … 1. “Normally, fundraising departments increase their financial […]

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The Secret Life Of A Donor

Mark Phillips of Bluefrog in the UK is one of the most insightful bloggers I read. He recently posted This is not a strategy. The title got my attention. I clicked and was delighted to see that his original source was Dilbert (actually Dogbert), a true fount of organizational knowledge. As Mark notes, here’s an […]

Learn More September 27, 2013