Award Winning Blog - Agitator

The Six Envelope Hot Spots

The other elements of a direct mail package can be weak — or even fail — yet the package can succeed. The single exception of course is the envelope! An envelope that is opened is 100% successful; a mailing that is unopened is a 100% failure. Do you know the six outer envelope ‘hot spots’? […]

Learn More September 14, 2012

Retention Mailings Up

The Agitator is gratified by this report from Fundraising Success indicating that retention mailings have grown by 16% from 2010 to 2011. As Ethan Boldt observes: “…fundraisers are putting more emphasis on keeping the donors they have on their rolls.” Hallelujah! [Check our postings under ‘donor retention’.] He also notes that expire mailings also went […]

Learn More September 13, 2012

Warming Up For Year-End: 6 Email Mistakes To Avoid

Because such a large proportion of online contributions arrive in the final 45 days of the year, now’s a good time to start sharpening your email campaign skills. Neil Patel, head of the audience metrics firm Kissmetrics, publishes a great blog worthy of subscription. In Neil’s experience here are the six reasons that most most […]

Learn More September 12, 2012

Commitment Is Everywhere

At Loyalty360.org, I came across this article — Are Your Customers Brand Loyal or Category Loyal? — which looks at customer loyalty in the consumer package goods (CPG) realm. We’re talking diapers and toothpaste. The author, Suzy Cox, focuses on the steady rise of ‘private label brands’, which now account for roughly 23% of unit […]

Learn More September 11, 2012

Year-End Fundraising

Writing at Connection Cafe recently, Sara Spivey offered these suggestions for getting your year-end fundraising act together … now! As Sara outlines … September Conduct a database audit: make sure supporter records are up to date and identify any missing data records and amend them Make sure you have email, street addresses and phone numbers […]

Learn More September 10, 2012

Politics On Social Net Sites

Pew Research has just published findings on social nets and political activities. Here are some key findings: 36% of social networking site (SNS) users say the sites are “very important” or “somewhat important” to them in keeping up with political news. 26% of SNS users say the sites are “very important” or “somewhat important” to […]

Learn More September 7, 2012