Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Using Video To Support Your Cause

Here’s a short piece — with great examples — from the Chronicle of Philanthropy on using online video to engage your donors and generate new support. The recommended uses … 1. Put a face on your cause … people embrace people. 2. Tear down walls … bring supporters inside your organization and its projects. 3. […]

Learn More May 27, 2011

The $1 Fundraising Model

Does one dollar count as a real contribution? An Agitator reader pointed us to this approach from PayPal and Philanthroper … a “Groupon fpr Good”. As reported on Mashable: “Every day, the site showcases a worthy cause and asks users to donate just $1. Users cannot give any less or any more than $1. While […]

Learn More May 26, 2011

This Headline Terrified Me

Charity Wins Donors With Promise Never to Ask For Another Gift When I saw this headline on Holly Hall’s Chronicle of Philanthropy article on Monday I groaned out loud, and added an expletive. What a recipe for fundraising disaster, I thought. No way direct response fundraising works without repeat gifts (i.e., repeat solicitations). Then I […]

Learn More May 25, 2011

‘Cause Fatigue’ On Social Media?

Interesting new research on causes and social media from Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication, reported in Philanthropy Today. While four in ten Americans get involved with groups working on social and political causes, 17% of women and 12% of men do so through social media sites, by joining a cause group, posting a […]

Learn More May 24, 2011

Do Your Donors Call You?

What percentage of your donors or members call your nonprofit … for any reason? What’s the overall volume? And what about ‘over-the-transom’ calls from people not yet connected to you? Naturally, the numbers vary hugely from nonprofit to nonprofit, and across types of nonprofits. Do you treat these calls as a cost (i.e., a nuisance) […]

Learn More May 23, 2011

Facebook Versus Real Money

Yesterday we noted Facebook’s new Resource section for nonprofits, and quoted FB’s own figure of $5 million being raised through its Causes application. Laudable. But one Agitator reader noted with a hint of sarcasm … $5 million in five years from some 50 million Facebook users wasn’t exactly a fundraising avalanche! Then another commentator noted […]

Learn More May 20, 2011