Award Winning Blog - Agitator

The Anatomy & Science of Conversation

Conversation abounds in the world of fundraising whether in-person or over the phone. Everybody makes note that we should be active listeners and strive for making a conversation, well, you know, “conversational”. That feels thin. The social science world has done a lot to get a more robust answer. This has implications for humans talking […]

Learn More March 7, 2022

The Last Mile Matters

In supply chain world the last mile is that last step to get the Amazon package to your door. It’s notoriously expensive and cumbersome and it can be the difference between turning a profit or not. Your last mile equivalent is the paper or digital equivalent reply form. This last mile is a good place […]

Learn More March 4, 2022

Half of All Impressions are Wasted

Attention Direct Marketers: This may seem like a branding post and the “soft” metrics of awareness and people liking your brand. It is! And that’s a big, big part of your job even if you aren’t actively putting time against it. Why? All your direct marketing has much, much, much more immediate failure than success. […]

Learn More March 2, 2022

Model-T Fundraising: Pros and Cons

“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black.” –Henry Ford The Model T Ford, America’s first mass production auto, only came in black because the production line required compromise so that efficiency and improved quality could be achieved. The service is provided by a score […]

Learn More February 28, 2022

And the Behavioral Science Award Goes To___________

I’ll accept this award on behalf of the DonorVoice Behavioral Science Team, their partnership with UCLA and the client that made it all possible, Catholic Relief Services. They’d all be here to accept the honor but they’re doing real work while I steal the stage. This is a big deal, especially for lead-author, Ilana Brody […]

Learn More February 25, 2022

How to Invoke Sad Without Saying “Sad”

“She was sad.” Boooorrrrring. Talk about telling not showing. Something so important as emotion and yet, most of the time we reduce it to the lowest common denominator, literal use of the word; angry, sad, happy. How about this instead; “she was crying.” It shows, it describes. And for most of you, it likely […]

Learn More February 23, 2022