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Communications

Facebook Facts

Facebook celebrated its 10th birthday last week (didn’t we just see the birthing movie?), and Pew Research marked the occasion with a heap of recent research findings about Facebook users. Here are some highlights … Facebook is used by 57% of all American adults, with 64% of those visiting the site on a daily basis. […]

Learn More February 10, 2014

Your Baby Is Ugly. Congratulations!

The ‘baby’ I’m referring to is the design of your web pages. After all those screaming bouts with your designers and developers over web designs, after all the experimentation with splash pages and all-flash sites, some experts, whose views as trend analysts I value, say we may be on the cusp of a new trend: […]

Learn More February 7, 2014

How To Make Your Website A Fundraising Winner

Yesterday Tom outlined how to destroy your website. Today, in the best yin and yang tradition of The Agitator, here’s how to make your website the very best of breed. WAGER:  I’m betting there’s no more than one out of every 10,000 nonprofits in the world with the guts or patience to follow the process […]

Learn More January 30, 2014

Snacking, Bingeing, Consuming On The Run

I just stumbled upon a fascinating thought piece from Mindshare, a global marketing/media company, part of an occasional series they publish under the rubric CultureVulture. This report is simply titled Entertainment and discusses the various ways that evolving media use and particularly the way we receive, view and interact with entertainment content will spill over into […]

Learn More January 24, 2014

Leaving Donations On The Screen

One topic you can expect to see The Agitator dwell upon over the coming year is mobile. Firstly, all the media/digital monitoring services are now reporting that more than half of emails are opened with a mobile device. And mobile viewing of online video, as well as your ‘plain ole’ website, is also accelerating very […]

Learn More January 8, 2014

Death Of A Fundraising Pioneer

Russ Reid, a pioneer in monthly giving and direct response television (DRTV), died Saturday, December 7 at his home in Sierra Madre, California. He was 82 years old. Word of Russ’ death reached The Agitator via Tom Harrison, the chairman of the agency that Reid founded in 1964 and that still bears his name. Tom’s […]

Learn More December 12, 2013

Phoning In The Content And The Money

Digital world monitor comScore has released the latest figures on smartphone ownership in the US. As of October, 149.2 million people in the US owned a smartphone, representing 62.5% penetration. The most common application on those phones by far is Facebook (76%), with apps like Google Search (52%), YouTube (48%), Gmail (46%), Instagram (26%) and […]

Learn More December 10, 2013

7 Questions For Your 2014 Marketing Plan

With November almost half gone, there’s not much we can timely advise regarding your year-end marketing/fundraising program. For the next 90 days or so, it’s all about execution. Much of your execution will be online, so I do hope you noted Roger’s advice yesterday about breaking through the Gmail barrier. So now let’s turn to […]

Learn More November 13, 2013

Heads-Up for Year-End Email

Here are two factoids to alert you to some tweaks you should be making in preparation for your year-end fundraising activities. 74 percent of consumers/donors use Google search; 60 percent own GMAIL accounts. So what? In mid-to-late July Google introduced Gmail Tabs, a change to its Inbox designed to differentiate between what they call ‘Primary’ […]

Learn More November 12, 2013

Mobile Marketing

Marketers (maybe more accurately, market researchers) love to create new consumer segments to spin theories about. I can’t resist this stuff, just out of intellectual curiosity … and sometimes I actually pick up an insight. So I was curious to read about ‘Affluencers’ — a composite of affluents (household income of $100K+) and influencers (those […]

Learn More November 8, 2013

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Ask A Behavioral Scientist

    Behavioral Science Q & A

    Q: As a designer who works with non-profits on fundraising strategy, I see the language like the following: “Our supporters help empower every girl, ensuring she has the resources she needs.” I do not think the word “help” is useful–I think “Our supporters empower every girl, ensuring she has the resources she needs. ” is much more engaging. Thoughts?

    Whether “help” is more engaging or not really depends on the framing and context. The word help can sometimes weaken the perceived agency of the supporter, making their role feel secondary rather than central (your point). On the other hand, help can also signal collaboration rather than implying full ownership of the outcome, which might […]

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    Q: We started offering a donor cover option last april 1. The data to date suggests this may be dampening giving.eg. those who say yes to donor cover have a lower average gift (based on analysis of 6000+ gifts). I’m wondering if those who give lower gifts feel more guilt and therefore say yes to donor cover or if the presence of donor cover is making people adjust (lower) their gift size to accommodate the extra 3%. Would love any insights you have.

    Great question! Here’s how behavioral science can help unpack what might be happening: Pain of Paying: Even a small extra charge can make giving feel more transactional than emotional, potentially reducing generosity. Fairness Concerns: Some donors might perceive donor cover as a surcharge rather than a contribution to the cause. If they feel the charity […]

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    Q: When writing an appeal, I waffle back and forth between writing “Your gift CAN…” or “Your gift WILL…” Any studies of which of these two words is best for an appeal?

    The choice between “Your gift CAN…” and “Your gift WILL…” taps into the psychological framing of certainty vs. possibility. Currently, there is no academic research directly comparing these two framings in charitable appeals. However, I suspect no framing is universally better—the outcome likely depends on your target audience and the campaign’s goal. Here are some thoughts: Certainty Framing – […]

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    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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    The Agitator Tool Box

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



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