Communications

2010 Fundraising Plans – “We’re Exhausted”

This is our third and last report on The Agitator’s 2010 Fundraising Plans survey. In our previous two reports (here and here), we’ve described fundraisers’ mood as "creeping optimism," with 51% of our respondents expecting to raise more money in 2010, placing their highest expectations on recovery of major gifts and continued growth of online […]

Learn More November 20, 2009

Who Is Your Best Competitor?

Every charity or nonprofit that seeks money (or members, visitors, clients or customers) — and every consultant or agency serving nonprofits — faces competition. It can be direct — EDF vs NRDC, Duke vs Stanford, Convio vs Blackbaud, Save the Children vs Worldvision — between organizations doing essentially the same thing in the same way. […]

Learn More November 16, 2009

So Much For That Theory!

On October 9th I posted I Hate This Study, and predicted that in thirty days it would blow away other posts in terms of open rates. Why? Because, as the neuroscience study it referred to established, negative information and emotions are processed more readily by the brain than positive stuff. So I tested my "Hate" […]

Learn More November 11, 2009

The End Of An Era. Thank Heavens!

A couple of days ago Tom relayed Ken Burnett’s view of what donors and fundraising will be like ten years from now. In brief, technology will put donors more in control of the channels through which we communicate with them…donors will seek greater accountability, transparency and control of how their money is spent and what […]

Learn More November 5, 2009

It Makes Me Cringe

When I read an article like this one in DM News, it makes me cringe. It’s talking about a study by online agency Return Path looking at the extent to which advocacy and arts groups collect (or not) and then use (or not) personal data on folks who sign up for these groups’ e-newsletters. After […]

Learn More November 4, 2009

Handwritten Letters

Handwritten letters … what a concept! I enjoyed this article by Max Kalehoff writing in — of all places — Online Spin! Says Max: "… the growing volume of communications in digital form also drives attention deficit, dehumanization and diminishing returns. It’s a tragedy of the commons when digital innovations, celebrated for their improvement on […]

Learn More November 2, 2009

Keep It Simple

Yesterday, proffering a core principle of fundraising, I cited "trust is the new black," a phrase coined by Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist. How does a nonprofit build trust amongst its constituents? Here a suggestion drawn from what appears to be the hottest trend in marketing these days, as reported by USA Today: "Simple is […]

Learn More October 30, 2009

Trust Is The New Black

Yesterday, we posted some data from Cone regarding the degree to which social media friends and fans used such media to make contributions. By and large, they do not. And the study we cited pointed to the issue of trust as the essential basis of both giving and online relationships. Here is a post titled […]

Learn More October 29, 2009

Trust, Social Media And Fundraising

Cone, an agency known for its expertise in cause marketing, has released some findings from its 2009 study of how consumers interact with brands online. The Cone study looks in part at the role of social media in generating awareness and support for causes. Cone notes that 80% of respondents say that social media provide […]

Learn More October 28, 2009

Distracting Social Media Stats

Although you know I hate to fan your social media flames, here are the latest social media usage stats from the Pew Internet Project. Some highlights: 46% of online American adults are social network site (SNS) users. This figure was only 8% on February 05. Of these, 73% have Facebook accounts, 48% use MySpace, 14% […]

Learn More October 27, 2009

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: