Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Greener Direct Mail

Earlier this month we published an article on how to lessen the environmental impact of direct mail programs. We invited further suggestions from fundraisers. Fundraising agency Mal Warwick Associates pointed us to their firm’s environmental practices statement, which describes the steps the company takes in its own business operations, as well as the steps it […]

Learn More August 19, 2008

Which Ads Do You Respond To?

Mediamark Research has come up with this study segmenting American consumers according to which media they respond to. Your possibilities, together with the US profile, are: Emerging media (9%) — mobile, product placement On the road (12% — billboards, buses, taxis Mass media (17%) — TV, radio, the internet On paper (17%) — newspapers, magazines […]

Learn More August 18, 2008

Challenge To Agitator Readers

Attention all you fundraisers out there! We’re looking for some savvy folks who have "solved" any of the key challenges — or should we say opportunities — we see presently out there in the nonprofit fundraising world. Here are the challenges: 1. You have improved you first year renewal rate in the last twelve months […]

Learn More August 15, 2008

Resources Required To Social Network

Want to give your nonprofit an presence on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, etc, etc, etc? Just find yourself a nerdy young intern? No way, says nonprofit marketing consultant Michael Puican in this article from the Philanthropy Journal. Here’s what he says you need, human resource-wise, if you’re serious … Two hours a day (10 hours […]

Learn More August 14, 2008

Online Fundraising – Trick Question

I love this article on online fundraising by direct mail fundraising maven Mal Warwick. He begins with this question: Question: Which one of the following statements is true? * The most important thing for raising money online is the capacity to accept donations on your Web site. * E-mail costs so much less than direct […]

Learn More August 13, 2008

Disruptive Technologies and the Innovator’s Dilemma

In 1995 Clayton Christensen coined the terms “disruptive technology” and “disruptive innovations” to describe technological innovations, products or services that use a “disruptive” strategy rather than “revolutionary” or “sustaining” strategies to overturn dominant or status quo products in a market. “Disruptive innovations” can occasionally come to dominate an existing market, either by filling a role […]

Learn More August 12, 2008