Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Unlearn What You Have Learned, You Must

Syntax is the way we place words in a sentence. The simplest, clearest formulation is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO), “The dog chased the cat”. Yoda uses a very complicated, awkward syntax called an anastrophe, placing the object and the verb before the subject. Simple is better, right? Use active voice, not passive, right? Every rule ever written […]

Learn More June 21, 2024

Beyond One Size Fits All For the Win, Again…

Our choices are expressions and reflections of who we are. I won’t pay as much attention to your fundraising message if it doesn’t reflect who I am. And since people are different, your fundraising needs tailoring to match those varied reflections. Most readers will probably agree with this statement and yet, the infinity problem stands […]

Learn More June 19, 2024

2 Years After Dobbs: The Landscape of Support for Both Sides

In 1973 Craver, Mathews, Smith & Co. launched the first direct response campaign for the National Rights Action League (NARL,) now named Reproductive Freedom for All . That was the year Roe v. Wade was decided. That was also the time 51 years ago when women could not […]

Learn More June 17, 2024

Grade Level Belongs In School, Not Copywriting

Writing should reject all amplifications, digressions, and swellings of style: to return back to the primitive purity, and shortness, when men delivered so many things, almost in an equal number of words . . .a close, naked, natural way of speaking; positive expressions; clear senses; a native easiness: bringing all things as near the plainness, […]

Learn More June 14, 2024

Definitely Bold and Underline…or Not

It seems an article of faith that adding bold or underline in direct mail is best practice. Google it and some version of these points will surface many times over in the first few search result links. Bolding or underlining signals that a sentence is important. But underlining also serves a second, more important purpose. The […]

Learn More June 12, 2024

Transaction Costs Are A Killer

Not your transaction costs, the donor’s. Why does a mailing to a well curated list of folks garner such a low response rate? It’s only one of two reasons, A bunch of people on the mail list shouldn’t be – i.e. the list sucks reason The cost in time, convenience to give your mailing attention […]

Learn More June 10, 2024