Here at The Agitator we place a high premium on guts and risk-taking. After all, solving the world’s problems requires a lot of both.

Sometimes breaking the mold means swimming upstream against conventional wisdom. Sometimes it means bucking the conventional go-along-to-get along mindset that infects too much of the nonprofit world.

Apparently our readers feel the same way. Of this year’s Top 10 posts as determined by Agitator readership and comments 2 of the 10 involved risk taking. For one organization — The American Cancer Society  — the risk did not pay off. For another — The Humane Society of the United States — it did.

Both are entitled to an Agitator Raise for stepping outside the box.

Roger and Tom

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY FLOPS — Three years ago the 100+ year-old American Cancer Society (ACS) shocked the industry with its decision to put a major part of its direct mail program on hold. (See Agitator’s The Courage to Change)

This August ACS reported back to the industry at a DMANF conference. Unfortunately, the presentation summarizing the results was less than clear. Roger caustically noted, “If bullshit were the new cure for cancer then the direct marketing staff and consultants of the American Cancer Society should win the Nobel Prize in Medicine hands down.”

Many of us, including Roger, were rooting for their success. So it’s important to note that it was the poor quality of the ACS presentation and not the boldness of their experiment that triggered a tsunami of comment from Agitator readers Lane Brooks, Jeff Brooks, Chip Grizzard, Pamela Grow and Greg Warner.

STRIKING BACK. If there’s any group that doesn’t cut and run when the government comes calling it’s the Humane Society of The United States. When maliciously attacked by the Attorney General of Oklahoma (see Agitator Beware of Oklahoma’s Mini-Nixon), HSUS stood up and fought back.

Not only did HSUS triumph the malicious and trumped up use of state fundraising regulations and an all-out assault by big agribusiness, they triumphed in the best possible way — converting policy into practice.

This post chronicles the fact that indeed Good Guys win and won the praise or Agitator readers Pamela Grow, Joe White and Laura Umpenhour

Tomorrow:  Innovation and Myth