Fundraising philosophy/profession - Agitator

Communications

On Giving Thanks

In the aftermath of Paris, Beirut and Bamako and with far too many politicians and demagogues working overtime to seize on the public’s anxieties, prejudices and deepest fears, The Agitator is pausing publication for the next two days to give thanks. Tomorrow is official Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. Many of our readers will be ‘enjoying’ […]

Learn More November 25, 2015

If Only I Knew What You Know

Can you imagine your doctor practicing medicine without a clear understanding of best practices? (“Now let me see, some docs prescribe a 2 day course of penicillin, the guy down the hall says 15 days, but I think 4 days are about right.”) Or … hiring a lawyer who worked only on intuition, ignoring case law […]

Learn More November 19, 2015

Kiss 8 Of 10 Good-Bye

Looking at 2014 data from over 8,000 respondent groups, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project reports that on average nonprofits retain only two out of ten first time donors. That’s not a misprint: the retention rate for first time donors is a scant 19%. Below you’ll find an infographic from Bloomerang illustrating this and related retention stats. […]

Learn More November 18, 2015

Paris And A Sector Of Optimistic Grinders

Tom Watson has written an excellent column in the Chronicle of Philanthropy reflecting on the aftermath of the Paris attacks — The Horror of the Paris Attacks Reminds Us Why Nonprofits Matter. He opens fittingly with this quote from Voltaire: “Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.” Commenting on the […]

Learn More November 17, 2015

In Search of the Silver Bullet

Over the weekend I worked on the ‘Top 10 Bad Practices’ section of a book I’m writing. Because this is the season when many groups are putting out or reviewing Requests for Proposal (RFPs), I thought I’d share some of my notes — and a special video — with you in case you’re on either […]

Learn More November 16, 2015

Major Gift Fundraising For Smaller Organizations

Lots of time and money is spent on identifying success factors in major gift fundraising for large organizations. Very little on factors that make a big difference for smaller organizations. Until now. Amy Eisenstein, author of Major Gift Fundraising for Small Shops, has just released a study done in conjunction with Prof. Adrian Sargent, director of […]

Learn More November 10, 2015

The Fundraising Stupidity of ‘Free’ and Cheap

It never ceases to amaze me how stupid and cheap so many nonprofit CEOs, board members and, yes, even fundraisers can be. The consequences that spring from ignorance about the importance of investing in fundraising and a zealously misplaced focus on ‘cost savings’ yield horror and frustration for staff and almost always result in calamity […]

Learn More November 6, 2015

9 Great Tips for #GivingTuesday

December 1st 2015 marks the fourth annual #GivingTuesday. In anticipation of the event this post is divided into: 1) stats on #Giving Tuesday, and 2) some quick and easy tips to prepare for #GivingTuesday. Background and Stats #GivingTuesday is that artificially inseminated day of philanthropy aimed at capturing some of the torrent of consumer spending […]

Learn More November 4, 2015

Fundraising Bravery

Sometimes Professor Adrian Sargeant can be a real pain in the ass. We should all be grateful. This week the mild mannered, empirical-evidence-please scholar and the author of the classic Building Donor Loyalty shed his Clark Kent persona and came out swinging against proposed regulatory efforts by the UK government to gag charities. Regulatory efforts aimed […]

Learn More October 28, 2015

Year-end Priority Setting

When I actually got paid to fundraise, as we swung into the last two months of the year we had to balance two priorities — 1) maximizing year-end fundraising to get the numbers as impressive as possible, and 2) projecting costs and revenue for the coming year to fuel the annual budgeting process. That was hard […]

Learn More October 27, 2015

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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Communications

On Giving Thanks

If Only I Knew What You Know

Kiss 8 Of 10 Good-Bye

Paris And A Sector Of Optimistic Grinders

In Search of the Silver Bullet

Major Gift Fundraising For Smaller Organizations

The Fundraising Stupidity of ‘Free’ and Cheap

9 Great Tips for #GivingTuesday

Fundraising Bravery

Year-end Priority Setting

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?

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?

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?

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?

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

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