Donor retention / loyalty / commitment - Agitator

Board Meeting Swipe File

Herbicide For Donors

The gardening catalogs, those heralds of Spring, are piling up on my desk. I’m way behind in ordering. Part of the reason the delay is that for many organizations where I volunteer, it’s budget time. And paying attention and advising them on their budget priorities is far more important than ordering the latest hybrid tea […]

Learn More April 3, 2017

If You Must Deal With The Boss And Board

I guess I just started out in a grumpy mood this week, on Monday implying that for most fundraisers, hanging on to their donors was too demanding, beyond their ability. Roger on Tuesday tried to find some good news in a Bloomerang study indicating that somewhat more nonprofits were monitoring their retention rates these days, an ‘accomplishment’ […]

Learn More March 31, 2017

Back To Basics: Lifetime Value (LTV)

Tom’s rant, A Man of Infinite Patience in a World of Imposters, triggered helpful comments from fellow Agitators on what can be done to help organizations better focus on understanding and measuring retention rates and other key metrics. Gail Perry suggested stamping out stupidity (mostly male) with basic education for boards and executive leaders on how fundraising works. Jay Love added the helpful […]

Learn More March 30, 2017

A Man Of Infinite Patience In A World Of Imposters

Roger surprised and impressed me yesterday with the incredible display of patience and tolerance displayed in his post, Donor Retention: Good News And Poor Excuses. The ‘good news’ in his post was that, according a Boomerang survey of 775 nonprofits, 67% are tracking their donor retention rate, as compared to 55% in 2014. That improvement […]

Learn More March 29, 2017

Donor Retention: Good News And Poor Excuses

At last! I’m pleased to report that there seems to be some evidence that more and more fundraisers are paying attention to the issue of donor retention. Although we’re far from breaking out the champagne in celebration of universal recognition that holding on to donors is an essential activity, the new Bloomerang survey, The State […]

Learn More March 28, 2017

Worst Fundraising Mistake?

Last week, Jeff Brooks, no fundraising slouch, asserted that the “worst mistake you can make” in fundraising is “confusing yourself with your donors”. Argues Jeff in this post: “Remember that your donor is different from you. She knows less (or rather, she knows different things). She’s probably quite a bit older than you. She’s paying less […]

Learn More March 27, 2017

Opt In vs Opt Out: The ‘Make or Break’ Decision In The UK And EU

Here’s a question for fundraisers in the UK and the European Union: Would you rather lose 50% or 85% of your donor base? That’s the essence of what’s at stake as fundraisers stand on the tracks staring at the fast approaching train of new regulations on donor data protection that go into effect May 2018. […]

Learn More March 24, 2017

Your New Fundraising Word For The Day

Here’s it is: ‘actigiver’. In a Huffington Post piece, Giving In The Age of Outrage, Steve MacLauglin, VP of Data and Analytics at Blackbaud and author of Data Driven Nonprofits, claims that the question of “whether online activists would ever turn their clicks into gifts” has now been answered. The answer, according to Steve is […]

Learn More March 23, 2017

Monthly Giving … Maybe We’ll Get Lucky

In a brief, to-the point article in NonProfitPro, Erica Waasdorp, who’s written a book on the subject, gives us two ‘must-do’ steps for generating monthly donors. As simple as they are, they seem to baffle too many nonprofits. First, you must ASK for monthly gifts! Sound like a big ‘DUH!’? Then why don’t 50% of participants in […]

Learn More March 22, 2017

Your Nonprofit Is Competing With Amazon

What a scary thought! But it’s true. Consider … every month, more people visit Amazon to make a purchase, browse for products or research a product (85%) than visit their families (40%). In fact, nearly 40% visit Amazon one to three times, and close to 30% visit Amazon more than seven times per month. 56% make […]

Learn More March 15, 2017

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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