Award-Winning Blog


Exposing and Eliminating Unethical Email

Thank God It’s Friday. It’s been a horrible week in the real world: Massive evacuations and fear of Taliban retaliation in Afghanistan… historically massive and destructive wild fires in the West… reactionary and racist anti-democracy, voter suppression legislation enacted in Texas… tacit approval by the U.S. Supreme Court of a contrived, mean and vicious law […]

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The Charity Sector Data Fishing Plague

Slice your data enough ways and you’ll find differences. I was reminded of this sitting through a conference session that shall remain nameless to protect the guilty.  But they’ve got lots of company. How many times have you seen a Powerpoint deck from one of the 3rd party data providers summarizing how your donors are […]

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Past Behavior Predicts Future Behavior – Who Cares?

This post’s title largely summarizes my view.  Past giving predicts future giving and so begins the circular logic of donor understanding.  It’s akin to noting that someone is on time because they tend to be punctual. Knowing that past behavior predicts future behavior can make you more efficient but you can efficient your way out […]

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How to Ruin Good Copy

We think and worry a lot about copy (here, here, here and here). And so does Tom Ahern,  Kathy Swayze, Jeff Brooks and many other proven fundraising copywriters. Are we wasting our time? Let me explain the reason behind this question. A well-crafted piece of fundraising copy is far more than words on paper or […]

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The Shape of a Good Story

Everyone’s got a story. If only this were true.  In our extensive review of fundraising copy we find the sector copy reads more like an academic journal than an involving work of fiction.   In case you’re wondering, the latter produces more reading and giving. The story part of the sector’s writing is especially weak. So, […]

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No More Nudges

Behavioural Economics took flight only to come crashing down with a bang. Failure to replicate even the most basic of findings has started to raise eyebrows and questions. I can personally attest to this. I wasn’t immune to the allure of cognitive biases and the quick and easy interventions they offer – a.k.a nudges. I […]

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