Donor acquisition

The Agitator’s Editorial Stance

Reader comments on my ‘grumpiness’ last week got me thinking — and talking to Roger — about The Agitator’s editorial stance for the coming year. We do wish we could be more positive about our sector. We wish we could fill your in-box each morning with a terrific post about innovation, soaring nonprofit revenue, and […]

Learn More January 7, 2013

Acquisition: Innovation, Risk, Cowardice And Failure

We’re now about half way through this series on Acquisition. In the next half I’m about to weigh in with more thoughts on the innovative and the risky. Of course I’m mindful of the fact that risk and change make most folks uncomfortable and even sometimes hostile. Nowhere is this truer than in our sector, […]

Learn More December 17, 2012

Acquisition: Why ‘Best Practices’ Suck

The problem with most ‘best practices’ is that they lead to stealing. One organization copying another organization’s seemingly successful acquisition package simply leads to the next doing the same. And on and on. Tote bags change logos. Address labels change colors. Greeting cards filled with happiness, snow scenes and balloons proliferate. Problem is that copying […]

Learn More December 14, 2012

The Fundraising Cliff

It’s not just the American public and the paralyzed politicians who should be worried about plunging or at least sliding into the great abyss. Fundraisers face a similarly long-term financial problem, although there’s no December 31st deadline. Sadly few recognize the day of reckoning is at hand. Rather than look at the real reasons for […]

Learn More December 12, 2012

Acquisition: ‘Social Media Is Bullshit’

If nothing else, the author of the iconoclastic Social Media is Bullshit writes great teaser copy. In fact, B.J. Mendelson, marketing veteran (former), humor writer and stand-up comic (current) has not only come up with an attention-grabbing title, he’s written a valuable and iconoclastic guide to understanding the landmine-filled terrain called ‘social media’. It’s well […]

Learn More December 11, 2012

Nonprofit Failure Is Too Rare

The past two days, Roger has written (here and here) about innovative ways to test direct mail acquisition packages. He’s also written recently (here and here) about applying predictive modeling techniques to donor prospecting … including tools for smaller organizations. But how willing, really, are nonprofits to innovate? Here’s Seth Godin’s take on that subject […]

Learn More December 6, 2012

Acquisition: Direct Mail Testing – Part 2

One of the biggest pitfalls in direct mail testing is the ‘baby & the bathwater’ problem. The problem occurs when an organization or its consultant creates and mails a test package with numerous test elements. Or to put it in the vernacular, a whole bunch of stuff is changed. When this happens, the results for […]

Learn More December 5, 2012

Acquisition: Direct Mail Testing – Part 1

Tom’s post on the Obama campaign’s email testing prompts me to weigh in on one of the least understood and woefully mis-practiced skills in the direct response fundraiser’s repertoire – direct mail testing. Recognize any of these symptoms in your organization or among your clients? The test ideas that make it into the mail […]

Learn More December 4, 2012

Acquisition: 16 Reasons Your Prospecting Is Running Out Of Gas

Your prospecting returns are dropping … running out of gas. What’s the problem? Here are some reasons I can think of. If it’s been happening for awhile … a longer-term trend 1. The worst news possible … your cause/mission/strategy is simply losing relevance and importance to an otherwise well-targeted audience. 2. You’ve plumbed every depth […]

Learn More November 14, 2012

Acquisition: Prospecting Hope For Small Organizations

Sadly, when it comes to direct mail acquisition the deck is stacked against small organizations; especially those with a regional or local mission focus. The main question they face: How to get enough quality/responsive names to build a donor base? Traditionally, there just aren’t that many donor names available for exchange or rental from other […]

Learn More November 12, 2012

Ask A Behavioral Scientist

Behavioral Science Q & A

Q: Do you have any insight on whether integrating an individual giving appeal with other comms from the charity in both appearance and messaging can uplift results? Or does the actual appeal become ‘lost’ for lack of stand-out?

Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]

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Q: Is there any research on response rate impact in direct mail when referring to a sustainer gift as ongoing or recurring (catching all frequencies) v. monthly or annual?

I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]

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Q: A major conservation nonprofit sends me lots of mail, many of which have on the envelope “time to renew” or “2nd notice.” I find this practice deceptive, especially as I haven’t given to said organization since 1997. It must be effective or they wouldn’t do it. But is it ethical?

Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]

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Q: I find it irritating when some nonprofits accept my “gift” and then ask me to cover their credit card fees separately. It feels like a practice that does nothing to help win donors and runs the risk of turning others off. Is there any data on this either way?

Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]

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Q: What are the three most important things to consider when designing a brilliant supporter journey?

There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]

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Q: Is there any evidence that changes to the tax laws in the USA changed end of year giving behaviors? Previously, ~30% of US taxpayers filed itemized tax returns allowing them to receive a deduction for charitable giving. Tax law changed in 2017 so that now only ~10% itemize. This should mean tax year-end giving should not matter to millions of people for whom it used to matter. Is there any data evidence to support this?

I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]

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The Agitator Tool Box

Ideas, applications, tools, processes, and case studies of break-through solutions in fundraising, including: