Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Save One or Save Many? Depends on How You Ask

It’s rarely as simple as do X to get Y. “X” in fundraising is almost always a bundle of things, the donor’s Identity and Personality, the moral framing of the issue, the context, etc. Every element interacts so do X, get Y is akin to a 3rd grade math applied to a calculus problem. A […]

Learn More November 14, 2025

Why Brand Still Isn’t What You Think It Is

I’d wager most people in direct response think of their acquisition as brand building. There’s a certain logic to it, sure but it’s mostly wrong for two reasons. 1) The algorithm. Direct response is bought to minimize cost per acquisition. That’s true whether you’re buying through Meta, Google, or a data co-op. The algorithm hunts […]

Learn More November 12, 2025

From Michelangelo to Match Offers: A Short History of Decline and How to Fix It

Over the last twenty years, marketing effectiveness has fallen sharply. Campaigns, ads, and fundraising appeals are moving fewer people to act, even as budgets and frequency continue to rise. The pattern is unmistakable. It’s not just that everything looks and sounds the same; it’s that much of what’s being repeated is simply bad. Almost nine […]

Learn More November 7, 2025

Ask Less, Commit More

One. That’s the modal number of gifts per year from your one-off donors. File averages hover around 1.6. If you get a donor to give twice, you’re a hero. The prevailing method for earning that cape has been volume, early and often. Consider a close encounters moment. If an alien were told to get humans to […]

Learn More November 5, 2025

The Fundraising Story Is A Mirror, Not An Exhibit

The sector says it wants authentic stories and to avoid “poverty porn.” Both goals sound virtuous but neither has much meaning until you define what authenticity looks like or why some stories cross the line from empathy to voyeurism. Much stortelling best practice the equivalent of hosting a moral zoo. The beneficiary becomes the exhibit, […]

Learn More November 3, 2025

Who You Send It To vs. Who It’s For

Who do I send this appeal to? vs. What do I send to this person? Both sound similar are are about communication, segmentation, planning. But they represent entirely different ways of thinking. The first question treats the donor as a distribution problem, a targeting exercise. The process is logical, efficient, and deeply familiar. The second […]

Learn More October 31, 2025