Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Hope & Love … Yeah, Right!

Seth Godin says that people take action based on one of three emotions … fear, hope, or love. Not to play semantics, but I think this is a somewhat limited palette of emotions. For many in the direct response biz, the key emotional drivers consist of the “Super Seven” … FearFlatteryGreed/AdvantageGuiltAngerExclusivitySalvation/Hope This is a pretty […]

Learn More February 8, 2008

Online Fundraising Trends

Regular Agitator readers know that we regularly write articles and white papers with titles like Don't Throw Away Your Postage Meter! In other words, we think there's a ton of money still to be raised via direct mail. That said, we're not Luddites. The future belongs to online fundraising, with direct mail occupying important niches […]

Learn More February 7, 2008

Red … Tell Your Critics To Stuff It!

I just can't believe the idiocy communicated in today's NYTimes article on the Bono/Bobby Shriver cause marketing venture called Red. The NYTimes covers all the bases … One bunch of bleeding hearts doesn't think Red is generating enough money. In just over a year it's generated $22 million to fight H.I.V. and AIDS in Rwanda, […]

Learn More February 6, 2008

If You Can Sell A Toilet Seat …

I've been “sitting” on this item awhile, but finally I just can't resist sharing it. From blogger David Scott via MarketingProfs, it falls in the “if you don't think creative matters, think again” category. It's a one-minute TV commercial. Over 1 million YouTube views. I can't say more. Yep, get your lists right. And make […]

Learn More February 5, 2008

UNCF Gets C+

Awhile back the NYT ran this piece on the re-branding campaign of the United Negro College Fund. When I saw that the Fund actually acted on the advice they received from a prominent “branding” consultancy to change their name (for non-legal communications purposes) to UNCF, I thought to myself, “what a dumb move.” [OK, I'll […]

Learn More February 4, 2008

Acquisition Best Practices

Recently, in The Baby and the Bathwater, Roger wrote about the disturbing industry-wide decline in new donor acquisition, as documented by Target Analysis Group. He discussed this trend in the context of predictions of the death of direct mail. We don't want to just leave you wringing your hands! Here is a very helpful piece […]

Learn More February 1, 2008