Award Winning Blog - Agitator

The Donor Pyramid Lie – III

Here’s yet another view on Donor Pyramidgate … the debate over where major donors actually come from … and how to depict their evolutionary path graphically. It appears fundraisers take their geometric preferences quite seriously! As you can see here, Kristin McCurry of MINDset direct prefers a trapezoid. Can we all at least agree on […]

Learn More January 27, 2010

The Donor Pyramid Lie – II

Yesterday’s Agitator post on the donor pyramid (Is it a lie?!) prompted quite a response, so we’ll stick with this debate a bit. Commented John Sauve-Rodd (a Brit): "Personally I find the donor pyramid of no practical use, but as seasoned US and Canadian fundraisers told me in my research, ‘It is useful to explain […]

Learn More January 26, 2010

Dead Wrong, And Dead Right

Mark Rovner at Sea Change Strategies recently wrote that the "fundraising pyramid is a lie." He argues that most major donors are recruited into a nonprofit on a peer-to-peer basis, rather than being cultivated up the donor pyramid from initial small gifts. From my experience, I think Mark is dead wrong on this. Lawrence Hence, […]

Learn More January 25, 2010

2009 Online Giving – 10 Questions

Last week we reported some data from online firms Blackbaud and Convio regarding 2009 online fundraising. To refresh you on the highlights: Online fundraising revenue was up 46% over 2008 for all groups in Blackbaud’s universe (over 1,700 nonprofits), with 35% of groups reporting no increase in online revenue. According to Blackbaud, fully 46% of […]

Learn More January 22, 2010

Online Use By Generations

Here is a fairly detailed examination of online activity by age, prepared by Pew Internet Research. What I like about this slide presentation is that a wide range of internet activities (25 in all) is parsed against six different age cohorts, from Gen Y to GI Generation. What I don’t like is that, once again, […]

Learn More January 21, 2010

A Living Case Study On Dealing With Disasters

Frankly, I’m sick and tired of the dismissive comments with which many in our trade dismiss the money raising accomplishments of the American Red Cross in this Haiti disaster. Sure it’s a ‘big brand … sure it gets top media attention … sure the President and First Lady added to the media attention with their […]

Learn More January 20, 2010