Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Am I a Grump Head?

Like most of you, I'm thrilled to see Newsweek report that environmentalism is on the ascendancy in America. But I can't help recalling a comment made years ago by Jacques Cousteau to the effect that Americans' embrace of the easy task of recycling would actually undermine what was harder and really required, as he saw […]

Learn More July 12, 2006

Broken Models

Some business models “break” faster than others, but none is everlasting. What about your fundraising model? How is it holding up? This is a question non-profit marketers should think about no less than commercial marketers. For example, per the NY Times, AOL has indicated it will soon abandon the iconic pay subscription model that successfully […]

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If Banks Can Do It …

At least half of the 12 biggest banks in America are developing or have released live chat capabilities on their websites according to a piece in yesterday's iMedia Connection. Well, if big banks –not usually associated with terms like “cutting-edge” or “personal service” — can use live chats to give their customers help with loans […]

Learn More July 11, 2006

Possibly the Best Online Money You’ll Ever Spend

Slowly but surely the hype and hope that has surrounded online fundraising for most of the past decade is giving way to facts, analysis and the development of sound general principles. Nonetheless, there are many, many questions crying out for answers: How does online giving impact long-term donor value and the overall success of fundraising […]

Learn More July 10, 2006

Overreliance On Generosity of the Wealthy

The Business section of today's New York Times leads with a story headlined, “Fighting Diseases with Checkbooks: Rich Donors Can Be a Fickle but Essential Source of Aid for Medical Research.” Writer Andrew Pollack reports on the dangers of relying too heavily on the whimsy of the Big Donor but notes that these gifts for […]

Learn More July 9, 2006

How Would You Know?

The latest issue of Non-Profit Times reports reveals that the #1 factor for donors contributing long term to an organization — selected by 35% of respondents — is that “the organization is well managed and your money is well spent.” OK. Seems like a no-brainer? Our question is: How would your donor know? How well […]

Learn More July 8, 2006