Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Boomers: Boom Or Bust?

I’ve been thinking about this recent post — Boomer life transitions and fundraising — by Jeff Brooks of Future Fundraising Now. I’ve tended to be a believer in the manna from heaven promised by the fundraising ‘coming of age’ of America’s 76 million boomers. Huge wealth transfer coming their way. More discretionary income to give […]

Learn More March 20, 2013

Today’s The Day: Focus On Retention

This morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern we’ll host the Agitator/DonorVoice Webinar on Retention. We now have 821 folks registered, a healthy sign of the concern over retention among Agitator readers. There’s still some room if you’d like to join us. But even if you can’t attend today you may want to register here so we […]

Learn More March 19, 2013

Show This To Your Board, Or Go Sit On Your Thumb

Last week, Roger did a good job of rattling the cage with his post, What Is The Watchdog Watching? He basically said: P*** on the obsession with fundraising overhead. But that was just a warm-up. Watch this TED presentation — The way we think about charity is dead wrong — by Dan Pallotta, an extraordinary […]

Learn More March 18, 2013

What Is The Watchdog Watching?

This week the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that members of the Direct Marketing Association are working on an official protest against the watchdog Charity Navigator. At issue is Charity Navigator’s decision to challenge a longstanding accounting practice to count some of the money nonprofits spend in the course of fundraising as ‘program costs’ rather than […]

Learn More March 15, 2013

Flat Earth Fundraising: 15 Fundraising Mistakes To Avoid

Here’s a classic marketing question: When do I imitate versus when do I innovate? As much as Roger and I bemoan a lack of innovation today in fundraising, without question there are plenty of ‘lessons learned’ that all fundraisers should seriously consider before launching into change for change sake. Another way of putting it is […]

Learn More March 14, 2013

Flat Earth Fundraising: The High Cost Of Mistreating Suppliers

Some nonprofit fundraisers squeeze so hard on price that it’s enough to make a Hong Kong jeweler cry. Others treat their suppliers and consultants like some hired hand, there to do their bidding no matter how stupid and short-sighted. Still others — the successful and innovative (surprise!) – have mastered the art of building lasting, […]

Learn More March 13, 2013