Award Winning Blog - Agitator

“We Are Not Your Grandfather’s Oldsmobile”

A few posts back, we asked readers to suggest additional organizations to be included in the next DonorVoice/Agitator Donor Commitment Study. We received a few dozen suggestions … they’re still coming in. Many thanks. We also received this email from Brad Boyd at the Kiwanis Foundation of Indianapolis, which I’m publishing in its entirety: “Down […]

Learn More October 5, 2012

Planned Giving Research Insights

The Stelter Company has reported on its recent survey research (phone survey targeting age 40+ donors) regarding planned giving. Some findings from their report — What Makes Them Give? (registration required to download): Fully 60% of ‘best prospects’ are age 40-54. 20% of current planned givers say they had been donating to the nonprofit for […]

Learn More October 4, 2012

Contribute To This List … And Help Yourself

The Agitator and DonorVoice have chosen the 50 organizations to be included in our 2nd Annual National Donor Commitment Study. This is a large survey of active U.S. donors in the acquisition market to determine which organizations and charitable sectors have the highest — and lowest — Donor Commitment Scores. The results will be published […]

Learn More October 3, 2012

Acquisition: Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Before we wade into the nuts, bolts, techniques, pitfalls and opportunities in our Acquisition Series, we want to once more remind everyone of the climate in which today’s acquisition efforts are conducted. Long before the recent spate of media attention on acquisition costs and practices, there was a growing belief on the part of donors […]

Learn More October 2, 2012

Fundraising & Advocacy Campaigns In A Box

We’ve just added a remarkable widget to The Agitator Toolbox that strikes us as a dream come true for fundraisers and action campaigners in this age of mobile and video. And judging from the response rates I’ve seen, it’s not only remarkable but powerful as well. It’s called “Spark” and it functions like a mini-website […]

Learn More October 1, 2012

Blackbaud Pruning & Improving Its Orchard

This Sunday Blackbaud’s bbcon 2012 conference opens at the Gaylord National just south of Washington, D.C. Because 33,000+ nonprofits, including thousands of Agitator readers, use Blackbaud products, Tom and I felt this was an appropriate time to review Blackbaud’s progress following its Spring 2012 merger with Convio. Our initial concern over the merger is evidenced […]

Learn More September 28, 2012