Award Winning Blog - Agitator

No Mercy Shown

At the recent DMA Nonprofit Conference, Jennifer Donahue of NARAL presented her strategy for successful integration of direct response fundraising channels. As reported by Fundraising Success, one element of NARAL's fundraising credo is: “No mercy shown the donor (be vigilant and consistent in staying connected to your donor base).” This along with the advice to […]

Learn More August 20, 2007

Planned Giving’s Urban Legend

Couldn't help but pay extra attention to the “Are Charities Losing Out on the Wealth Transfer” post in the always interesting blog review in Give & Take, Peter Panepento's column in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Robert Frank, author of Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich, predicts […]

Learn More August 17, 2007

Who Is Your Opposite?

Here's a marvelous observation from Seth Godin: “One of the hardest things to do is invent a brand with no opposite. You don't have an anchor to play against. Does your team agree on who your opposite is?” As it applies to your nonprofit or firm, the question forces you to think through who YOU […]

Learn More August 16, 2007

Put Her In Stocks!

No, not the financial kind! The Washington Post, in an article fittingly titled In Fundraising's Murky Corners, details the shameful shennanigans of Linda Chavez, who managed to raise about $24.5 million through a series of PACs, but disbursed only 1% for their stated purposes — “fight to save unborn lives,” fighting “big labor bosses,” and […]

Learn More August 15, 2007

Disaster Strikes!

And what do you do? Weird and damaging events can happen, even to happy-go-lucky nonprofits. As Seth Godin notes in this post, complaining about poor communications during a recent city-stopping three-inch rainfall plus tornado in NYC, some things just can't be predicted. But to paraphrase his advice: you can be really good at communicating with […]

Learn More August 14, 2007

Ideacide

Guy Kawasaki, original marketer of the Mac, is my favorite collector of thinking about innovation and innovators. In this post, he's relayed the “seven sins of solutions” as articulated by Matt May, author of The Elegant Solution. May seems to have coined the marvelous term “ideacide” to describe the process of killing innovative thinking. Here, […]

Learn More August 10, 2007