Fundraising analytics / data - Agitator

Communications

Most Important Rule in Marketing?

My vote goes to Pareto’s 80/20 rule — 80% of the value or activity tends to come from 20% (or less) of customers, or whatever the active universe. The rule is confirmed in marketing scenario after scenario, including fundraising. Most recently, a Harvard Business Review study, reported here in Business Insider, finds that 90% of […]

Learn More June 3, 2009

Direct Mail Is Dying. Again!

Here’s another prediction of the death of direct mail, as reported on frogloop. Says research firm Borrell, spending on direct mail will decline by 40% over the next five years. Get a move on direct mail fundraisers! In five years your medium will be dead. Just like radio. Forget this prediction. In fact, ignore all […]

Learn More June 1, 2009

Online Loyalty Building

There’s probably no one out there who is not a "member" of some sort of loyalty program sponsored by a commercial merchant. From airline miles to stickers recording return visits to your local coffee shop, everyone seems to have some sort of program to encourage repeat business. Here are some examples from Whitney Hutchinson at […]

Learn More April 23, 2009

Online Advocacy – Case Study

Much has been written about candidate use of online tools in the 2008 election. But here’s one of the best pieces I’ve seen regarding sophisticated use of the internet for issue campaigning. The focus was California’s Proposition 8, which sought to ban same-sex marriages in the state. Whatever your position on the issue, the online […]

Learn More April 22, 2009

Choosing A Database? Mistakes To Avoid

Consultant Robert Weiner recently presented a webinar for Fundraising Success, called "Understanding and Maximizing Your Donor Database for Fundraising Success." As reported here, Weiner included a discussion of "ten mistakes nonprofits commonly make" when choosing a database. Having sat on both sides of the table during this ugly and painful process, I thought his list […]

Learn More April 13, 2009

“Must Read” Book For Fundraisers

We were going to write a shameless plug for direct fundraising maven Mal Warwick’s new book, but then we got this promotional message from Mal himself. He does a better job than we could. Just click here for his nifty presentation. Oh, the book. It’s called Fundraising When Money Is Tight. Timely as that sounds, […]

Learn More March 26, 2009

Truths & Myths About Online Donors

Last Wednesday the headline in a New York Times story proclaimed “Study Shows First-Time Online Donors Do Not Return.” Sort of a ‘dog bites man” headline since, truth be told, neither do first-time direct mail donors. That aside, Stephanie Strom’s NYT piece is worth a read by all fundraisers. And worth far more than a […]

Learn More March 23, 2009

A Direct Mail “First”

For the first time since records began in 1945, spending on commercial direct mail has declined. So says a white paper from the Winterberry Group, a strategic consulting firm to direct marketers, as reported here by the Center for Media Research. The report says spending on direct mail fell 3% in 2008, with a further […]

Learn More March 18, 2009

How Find Your Missionaries

OK, I’ve been harping for a few days on harnessing your nonprofit’s "missionaries" — and empowering them with online social marketing tools — to bolster your fundraising efforts. So, Agitator reader Patricia Perkins asked me, how would I find my missionaries in the first place? Great question. Were I starting from scratch, here’s what I’d […]

Learn More January 29, 2009

New Math For Fundraisers – II

Yesterday I offered a hypothetical New Math for Fundraisers scenario where very committed donors (only the 15% who are self-described missionaries) are matched with an easy-to-use tool (assuming, per Pew Research, that one-third use sites like MySpace or Facebook) to conduct a whopper of a personal fundraising campaign. I further assumed that half the donors […]

Learn More January 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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