Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Is Direct Mail Dead? Craver Responds

In case you missed, The Agitator’s own Roger Craver talked about the "death of direct mail" and related fundraising issues yesterday as guest on "Live Discussions," sponsored by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Here’s the transcript. Tom

Learn More March 6, 2008

Words That Work

If you’re in the communications side of the biz, or spend time writing copy, here are two books you should peruse … from opposite sides of the ideological spectrum. The advice from both is superb … but for such prominent communications experts, the books are, well, wordy! From the progressive side, George Lakoff, Don’t Think […]

Learn More March 5, 2008

Count The Ellipses

Lately I’ve noticed that in my blogging and other online copywriting I’ve fallen into the habit of using more and more ellipses. I hadn’t really thought about it. It just somehow felt right … something about the pacing. So this article from Marketing Sherpa, The Glory of the Ellipsis, jumped out at me. Their observation: "The […]

Learn More March 4, 2008

The Blissful Ignorance Effect

Online marketer Max Kalehoff cites intriguing research from the University of Iowa indicating that people who have only a little information about a product are happier with that product than people who have more information. Says the UI researcher: "We found that once people commit to buying or consuming something, there’s a kind of wishful […]

Learn More March 3, 2008

Who Cares If They’re Effective?!

Over at Tactical Philanthropy Sean Stannard-Stockton relates a conversation in which a major foundation grantmaker told him it was a primary value of the foundation to not harm grantees. The context was Sean asking whether philanthropists should speak out about nonprofits they considered to be ineffective. What a remarkable position for a grantmaker to take, […]

Learn More February 29, 2008

A Liberal Remembers William F. Buckley, Jr.

William F. Buckley, Jr., the intellectual father of modern American conservatism, died at age 82 at his desk yesterday. His 50 books and seven tons of other writings now residing in the archives at his beloved Yale University don’t even begin to do him justice when it comes to understanding what this polysyllabic, prolific agitator […]

Learn More February 28, 2008