Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Lust

Did we say “lust?” We meant HOUTLUST, a nifty blog originating in The Netherlands that offers a worldwide window to current nonprofit advertising and social marketing campaigns. You're likely to see as much or more material regarding non-US initiatives as you will campaigns underway in the US of A, but all the better to get […]

Learn More January 20, 2007

Election 2006 Online

The Pew Internet Project has released Election 2006 Online, a thorough study of Americans' use of the internet in the recent elections. While this report deals specifically with the internet as a source of political campaign news and as a vehicle for engaging with the elections, the patterns it reveals are important for all cause […]

Learn More January 19, 2007

Smarter Donors, Better Nonprofits

About 5-6 weeks ago, the Chronicle of Philanthropy ran a great opinion piece (available to subscribers only) about the need for more sophisticated and sustained media coverage of nonprofits. Written by Robert Egger, president of the D.C. Central Kitchen, agent provocateur and blogger. We’ve been thinking about it ever since. Egger sees three benefits to […]

Learn More January 18, 2007

The 59 “Smartest” Orgs Online

“A” for the idea. “D” for the execution. Unfortunately, that's how I'd rate this effort by Seth Godin (before whom I normally genuflect) to identify the “smartest” nonprofits in terms of using the latest online tools (especially the so-called Web 2.0 social networking platforms like Flickr, MySpace, etc) to build community and enthusiasm. To be […]

Learn More January 17, 2007

Are Best Practices A Crutch?

Describing his skepticism about best practices, David Baker, VP of E-mail Solutions at Avenue A/Razorfish, web consultants to some of the best known brands in the world (including Oxfam, for whom they created this gifting website), says this: Best practices are like benchmarks. They are very personal and contextual. Applied incorrectly, best practices can become […]

Learn More January 16, 2007

Medieval Direct Mail

Fundraising veteran Mal Warwick responded with this letter to The Agitator's recent appeal for “Best Ever” direct mail fundraising packages. He credits San Francisco fundraiser Lisa Hoffman with the find. Written by Buddhist monk Eihei Dogen of the Kannondori Monastery and sent to monks throughout Japan, it's a classic “bricks and mortar” appeal … in […]

Learn More January 15, 2007