Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Know or Listen to Those Who Know

Frank O’Brien has spent four decades helping some of the sector’s most consequential organizations—Doctors Without Borders, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Oxfam—find the words that move people. I’ve known, competed with, and admired Frank’s commitment, dedication and skill ever since he arrived in Washington, D.C. 40+ years ago. Not only does he know what works, he […]

Learn More June 24, 2026

When “Help Them” Needs a Little “This Matters to You”

Most fundraising assumes the donor opens the appeal as a fully assembled human being – alert, reflective, morally cued up and sitting in a sunlit breakfast nook, perhaps with herbal tea, considering the human condition. The more likely scenario is skimming your email between a Slack message, a pharmacy refill reminder and a child asking […]

Learn More June 22, 2026

Are You Acquiring Donors or Training Tippers?

Premiums work and that is the worst thing about them. Anyone who has spent time around direct mail knows the evidence. Labels lift response. Calendars lift response. Stickers, socks, tote bags, seed packets, greeting cards, nickels glued to paper like tiny bribes. They can all lift response. So the anti-premium argument can’t, “these things never […]

Learn More June 19, 2026

The Failed Ask That Raised Money

The “R” word is put in strategy decks, conference sessions, CRM fields, and donor journey maps with arrows pointing toward enlightenment. Then we measure the Relationship like a vending machine. Did the donor say yes today? If yes, success. If no, failure. That’s awfully binary and myopic. Case in point, giving rose by almost 7% in […]

Learn More June 17, 2026

Avocados and Fundraising

The miracle of avocado toast is not the avocado. Thirty years ago, Americans were not buying avocados year-round in every grocery store from San Diego to Scranton. Mexican avocados were effectively kept out of the U.S. market for most of the twentieth century, with pest risk as the official reason and California growers having every […]

Learn More June 15, 2026

When the Image Becomes the Ask

A set of experiments for a medical charity found people were more likely to choose campaigns with, Images showing visible illness and Group images instead of a single person. You probably think the first finding is akin to water being wet and are dubious of the 2nd one. In both cases, the useful part is […]

Learn More June 12, 2026