Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Should Fundraisers Target Boomers?

Although he was addressing this article to marketers in general, I strongly suspect Matt Thornhill of The Boomer Project would answer nonprofit fundraisers with a resounding "Yes!" Here are Matt’s reasons for targeting Boomers … You will build your career and legacy on their backs. (We thought we’d start with a personal reason to motivate […]

Learn More January 7, 2010

2009 Online Advocacy Review

Here’s a decent review from ClickZ of how online media were used for political and issue campaigning in 2009. The comment I found most interesting is the "gap" one expert noted between Obama presidential campaign’s pathbreaking online campaigning in 2008 and the feeble use of this army to support Administration initiatives in 2009. One wonders […]

Learn More January 6, 2010

For Fundraisers, Is Love In The Air?

According to this report in the NY Times, advertisers are turning up the dial on emotion in their appeals. Perhaps nonprofit fundraisers should do likewise. Says one ad exec: “There are left-brain and right-brain approaches to advertising,” said Linda Kaplan Thaler, chief executive of the Kaplan Thaler Group, part of the Publicis Groupe. “For a […]

Learn More January 5, 2010

2000s Were A Bummer!

Sorry to start the new year (and decade) with a downer of a headline, but there’s a silver lining here … it can only get better! Pew Research recently asked Americans for their "overall impression" of the last five decades. Here are full results. As you see, the 2000s were a real bummer — 50% […]

Learn More January 4, 2010

The Age of Donor Conservation

Back at the beginning of November, Roger published a post urging fundraisers to progress to The Age of Donor Conservation. In the relative quiet of the holidays, I urge you to reflect on his message. Observing that "donors are precious, not limitless," Roger argues: "Successful strategies in The Age of Donor Conservation focus on life-time […]

Learn More December 30, 2009

Pondering Direct Mail

Here’s a thoughtful essay from fundraiser Ken Burnett on the "death" of direct mail. Actually, Ken emphasizes (and The Agitator agrees) that what really matters is the message and how well it’s crafted … whatever the medium used to deliver it. Here’s an excerpt: "At its heart direct mail fundraising is not about direct mail. […]

Learn More December 28, 2009