Award Winning Blog - Agitator

The Client/Agency Dance

The Agitator has readers on both sides of the dance floor … lots of ‘clients’ and heaps of agencies and consultants. How many of you have been through the following Kabuki dance? Client: “How much will it cost us?” Agency: “How much do you have budgeted?” Client: “It depends.” Agency: “Well, give us a ballpark […]

Learn More March 2, 2011

For sale: baby shoes, never worn

Perhaps the world’s shortest short story … by Ernest Hemingway. So says Lucy Gower in this excellent article about storytelling, published recently on SOFII. Among other advice, including how to find stories within your nonprofit, Lucy notes these principles of good stories from Made to Stick, by Chip & Dan Heath: Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible […]

Learn More March 1, 2011

Fundraising Perfection

OK, nothing and nobody is perfect. But this comes pretty close. Last week The Agitator wrote back-to-back articles on Finding Stories for Fundraising and Nonprofit KPIs.Think of these as addressing the right and left side of the brain respectively — emotion and reasoning. In the latter piece, I suggested that the “winning combination” for fundraisers […]

Learn More February 28, 2011

Nonprofit KPIs

Commenting on our article yesterday, Finding Stories for Fundraising, Jay Love asked: “How about suggesting the NPO actually share the outcomes or results of their day to day work. Such reporting is every bit as vital as an income statement and balance sheet in the for profit world. Are they making a difference in whatever […]

Learn More February 25, 2011

Finding Stories For Fundraising

Any decent fundraiser (and copywriter) knows that the best way to capture attention, engage a donor and touch their emotional side is through stories. Stories trigger emotions and are memorable. They enable vicarious experience on the part of the listener … enabling the storyteller to communicate on a deeper level. So where might your stories […]

Learn More February 24, 2011

Next Big Thing: Integration

Fundraising Success says: “Looking for the Next Big Thing? We’ve got news for you … no matter what the next cool strategy is that emerges for fundraising, the one and only true Next Big Thing is, was and always will be integration. No matter how good something looks, it can’t stand alone; you have to […]

Learn More February 23, 2011