Award Winning Blog - Agitator

The Value Of Now!

A lot of what I’ve learned about the “when” of fundraising I learned from selling funeral flowers. Let me explain. My father was a florist– a business that depends on event and emotion-driven buying impulse — funerals, weddings, Mother’s Day, birthdays and anniversaries – with most transactions completed over the telephone and by credit card. […]

Learn More February 4, 2010

Forget The Message. Just Send Money!

“The most poorly written mail I get is from people who want my money.” –January 26 post signed by “Disgruntled Writer” The lesson I’ve learned in 40 years as a copywriter is this: Even if only 50% of your clients can read, you can be absolutely certain that 100% of them are convinced they […]

Learn More February 3, 2010

Who’s Living In Your Pyramid?

In the process of answering the essential “who”, “what”, “when”, “where” and “why” questions in planning a fundraising program or campaign, most of us begin with the identification of the prospective audience. In short, “Who” is the most likely prospect for a monthly giving program, or a major gift, a bequest, or a special giving […]

Learn More February 2, 2010

Yogi Berra On Fundraising

Frankly, I can’t think of a more appropriate summary of the "fundraising pyramid" debate than this observation by the famed New York Yankees catcher, Yogi Berra: “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.” Fundraising is a craft unencumbered by much basic “theology”, but one loaded with lots of […]

Learn More February 1, 2010

The Donor Pyramid Lie – V

I promise … after today, we’ll give the donor pyramid a rest. Except that next week Roger will pull together some thoughts on the underlying issues raised this debate of the past few days on The Agitator. For now, Ken Burnett gets the last word on The Pyramid, and discloses the true origins of its […]

Learn More January 29, 2010

The Donor Pyramid Lie – IV

The debate continues. I hope you’re reading the comments on our Agitator posts this week. But whether it’s a donor pyramid, trapezoid, ladder or bucket, no one is going to donate, at any level, whatever tactics fundraisers throw at them, without effective messaging. Now, most intelligent fundraisers (even if fundraiser is just one of your […]

Learn More January 28, 2010