Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Which Pair Belong Together?

How do we foster connection? We need to dig deeper in our understanding of the humans we’re asking for money. And we need to undo our segmentations. We instinctively start grouping people based on what’s available, convenient and intuitive – income, age, gender, internal donor flag or status (active, lapsed), channel. The minute our grouping […]

Learn More October 4, 2023

Where Has All the Money Gone?

Recently The New York Times’ Michelle Goldberg, in her column questioned Where Has All The Left-wing Money Gone? Citing “endless appeals, sometimes in bold all caps” of the seemingly endless the-sky-is-falling, guilt-tripping and flood of fundraising emails is a reason folks aren’t donating as much as they used to. She […]

Learn More October 2, 2023

Give Your Supporters A Break

Breaks are necessary for our sanity and productivity. Not exactly a breakthrough statement. Yet, we rarely follow that advice. How many back-to-back calls did you have this week? Can you remember how you felt after the last one? In a recent study, Microsoft examined the effects of back-to-back video calls on stress, and engagement. They […]

Learn More September 29, 2023

Is Your Frequency Glass Half-Empty?

Jill donates frequently and is more likely to donate today than Jack who donates less frequently. This is an accurate statement and it’s the traditional selection model, which is why our more recent, frequent donors are always sent the next appeal. This statement is equally true. Jill donates today and is less likely to donate […]

Learn More September 27, 2023

How Do You Find Out Why People Give?

For starters, don’t ask. Asking donors “why” tends to produce rationale or superficial answers. A slightly better approach is asking why a particular cause (not the charity itself) is important to them. This will likely result in describing experiences, which may indirectly shed light on the ‘why’. The danger here is relying on a researcher to […]

Learn More September 25, 2023

The World of Richard Viguerie. At 90 “Our work isn’t finished yet.”

“You see, in ideological causes people give money not to win friends, but to defeat enemies . You’d like to change human nature, but you can’t—people are more strongly motivated by negative issues than positive ones. When there are no negatives or enemies, the appeal isn’t strong.” For the past 58 years this […]

Learn More September 22, 2023