Award Winning Blog - Agitator

How Find Your Missionaries

OK, I’ve been harping for a few days on harnessing your nonprofit’s "missionaries" — and empowering them with online social marketing tools — to bolster your fundraising efforts. So, Agitator reader Patricia Perkins asked me, how would I find my missionaries in the first place? Great question. Were I starting from scratch, here’s what I’d […]

Learn More January 29, 2009

Cause-Marketing On Social Nets

We’ve been talking lately about using social nets like Facebook and MySpace as “enablers” that can equip a nonprofit’s strongest supporters – your missionaries – to help fundraise for your cause. In this instance, your nonprofit would be reaching out to its most committed supporters online and asking for help. The approach is grounded upon […]

Learn More January 28, 2009

New Math For Fundraisers – II

Yesterday I offered a hypothetical New Math for Fundraisers scenario where very committed donors (only the 15% who are self-described missionaries) are matched with an easy-to-use tool (assuming, per Pew Research, that one-third use sites like MySpace or Facebook) to conduct a whopper of a personal fundraising campaign. I further assumed that half the donors […]

Learn More January 27, 2009

New Math For Fundraisers

Here’s a fundraising scenario and projection for you to play with. Assume your nonprofit has 100,000 active donors, 15% of whom are "missionaries" — that’s the proportion of donors who, in our DonorTrends survey, consider themselves active recruiters for at least one cause or charity they support. Your nonprofit might have a bigger or smaller […]

Learn More January 26, 2009

Spaceship Broken – Need Parts

I’ll bet most fundraisers — together with each and every commercial marketer on the planet — will send out more email solicitations in 2009 than you ever have before. The email In-boxes of prospects and donors will be inundated as never before. How can you help your email campaigns penetrate the e-chaos and be more […]

Learn More January 23, 2009

An “Obama Effect” On Fundraising?

I’ve been wondering whether there will be an "Obama Effect" on nonprofit fundraising. Will the enthusiasm about President Obama in so many quarters translate somehow into increased charitable giving? Although it would be awfully hard to prove, I think it might, for three reasons: 1. For many, Obama has supplied a booster shot of hope, […]

Learn More January 22, 2009