Award-Winning Blog


We Regret To Inform You …

INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM To:  Belford                                                   Sunday evening FR:  Craver RE:  Your Request for Day Off The Agitator’s Human Relations Advisory Board has given careful consideration to your request for a one-day leave on 18 February . I regret to inform you the request has been denied.  Although The Agitator has a large U.S. readership … and […]

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What Is A Fundraiser?

Since I kicked off  the yeasty, comment-filled week with the Fundraising Firing Squad Forms A Circle post, I think it appropriate to end the week with Ken Burnett’s brilliant What Is A Fundraiser?  just to be sure your blood pressure is properly book-ended. If you’ve followed the ‘Comments’ section on The Agitator about the dustup […]

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Retention: Step #1

Establish emotional connection. Fantasies don’t count! Tom

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Where’s The Breakdown?

I was thinking about the Comments by John Sauve-Rodd and Denisa Casement regarding Roger’s post yesterday, Why Chuck Longfield Is Worried. Roger was re-stating The Agitator’s determination to intensify our focus on donor retention, and they were commenting on the great success of monthly giving in the UK and Europe, as compared to its pale […]

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Why Chuck Longfield Is Worried

When Chuck Longfield is worried, it’s time for fundraisers to wake up, pay attention, and begin making some serious changes. Chuck is the Founder of Target Analytics and Chief Scientist at Blackbaud. For purposes of this post, he’s a first-rate innovator who is more intimately familiar with direct response fundraising trends than anyone I know. […]

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The Fundraising Firing Squad Forms A Circle

Three weeks ago we announced the Agitator’s sponsorship of “The Summit”— a different and serious effort to challenge sacred cows and hopefully trigger desperately needed change in our sector. Alas! Over the weekend, the organizers announced the cancellation of The Summit. The reason: furor (‘furore’ for our UK and Commonwealth readers) over the composition of […]

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