Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Acquisition, But First …

As promised, Roger and I are about to do some systematic posting on donor acquisition. But we are compelled — yes, compelled — to start the ball rolling with yet another warning about donor retention! Compelled because this recent ‘Must Read’ report — the 2012 Fundraising Effectiveness Report — from the Association of Fundraising Professionals […]

Learn More October 15, 2012

Online Video Engagement

A study from the Jun Group based on nearly eight million video ad views yields some interesting insights into how netizens are using this medium. For example … Length has less adverse impact on completion rates than anticipated (shades of direct mail experience!) — 99% completion for 15 sec. message, 92% for 60 sec. message, […]

Learn More October 12, 2012

Useful Promises

Here’s a Seth Godinism about marketing that might apply to fundraising … I’ve made one word change to help you decide. Useful and believable promises “That’s another way to think about marketing. We only sign up/pay attention to/pay for offers from marketers when: What’s promised is something we think is worth more than it costs […]

Learn More October 11, 2012

One-Stop Shop For Fundraising Pitches?

Agitator reader Ally Penn pointed me enthusiastically to an app called Azigo. So I’m trying it out. You begin by signing-up for any brands you encounter online — well, those you’d like to hear from again — by using a personal Azigo email address. If you are already on various email marketing lists, you simply […]

Learn More October 10, 2012

Basic Is Beautiful

Cleaning out my tips file, I came across two pieces of recent advice that are pretty basic, but all the more reason to be reinforced! From Margaret Battistelli Gardner at Fundraising Success, 5 Direct Mail Fundraising Musts: 1. Tell stories, stories, stories. 2. Make sure premiums are tied to your mission. 3. Test, test and […]

Learn More October 9, 2012

Getting Inside Your Donor’s Right Brain

I’ve been really struggling to actually like my Kindle reader. Perhaps I chose the wrong book to get excited about e-readers … my first real attempt is The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, by British neuropsychiatrist Iain McGilchrist. I can assure you, the problem is not […]

Learn More October 8, 2012