Monthly Giving - Agitator

Donor acquisition

Sustainer Week +/- 2

We love sustainers and not just the 12x variety. Any recurring payment will do – quarterly, semi-annual, annual. Everybody wants more supporters on auto-renew. But the cost to acquire is high and you pay it all up front. That cost to acquire can be psychologically daunting. You don’t need to sign up more sustainers. You […]

Learn More October 14, 2022

Exciting Breakthroughs on Give Now and Pay Later

Back in July we posted What if Donors Could Give More Now and Pay Later? focused on the offering by a new financial tech company B Generous. In essence the B Generous approach to increasing the size of donor gifts is to offer financing of the total gift, interest and fee free to the donor […]

Learn More October 3, 2022

Avoiding Being Asked? Say it Ain’t So.

If people enjoy giving then why would they ever actively avoid a fundraising ask? Being solicited and the joy that can arrive from being charitable are not synonymous. Heck, sometimes they aren’t even distant, far-flung cousins. Relatedly, the act of giving is not what brings joy. It is how people react afterwards. We don’t give […]

Learn More August 26, 2022

What if Donors Could Give More Now and Pay Later?

A huge bonus springing from the BBB’s Wise Giving Alliance’s Heart of Giving Podcast are the windows host Art Taylor opens onto the personalities and motivation of folks who do the work, provide the charitable services, and come up with innovations worth exploring in our sector. Such was last week’s podcast featuring Dominic Kalms, the […]

Learn More July 13, 2022

7 Fundraising Tips for Surviving the Apocalypse of 2022

From war to famine with a huge dose of inflation, threats to democracy and mass shootings thrown in. But you already know the litany of economic , humanitarian, and political disasters. No need for detailed background. Seems like we’re being hit with everything but locusts. The bottom-line question is: What’s the best course of action […]

Learn More June 13, 2022

Time for a Money Revolution in the Board Room

Conventional wisdom in nonprofit board rooms, as best as I can tell, is that “in the midst of these uncertain political and economic times we should pull back”…”husband our resources”…”not be aggressive at a time like this”….and a thousand other cautionary excuses. Frankly, whether in good times or bad that’s usually the case because the […]

Learn More May 18, 2022

How Do You Know Which Sustainers are At Risk of Quitting?

Everybody wants more regular, monthly givers but do you know what an at-risk regular giver looks like? The non-answer on this is a “clawback” in the F2F, canvassing world which quickly became the number one channel for sustainer acquisition in the States (pre-covid) and always was in many other countries. The clawback is a full […]

Learn More March 30, 2022

“Only You Can Control Your Future.” [Navigation Chart for Fundraisers Enclosed]

The headline quotation is from the renowned fundraiser, Dr. Seuss. Well, even if he wasn’t a fundraiser Dr. Seuss’ advice is sound. He’s not alone in warning about grabbing hold of and steering your organization’s destiny , as literally hundreds of Agitator posts on the subject can attest. Enter the fascinating –and most helpful — […]

Learn More November 3, 2021

Taking Advantage of Donor Loyalty, the Donor-Centered Way

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently reported that revenue from online donations grew more than 15 percent in 2020 Before the coronavirus outbreak, revenue from one-time online donors had declined by 1% from 2019 to 2020. Presumably, the increase is attributable to the fact that because of the pandemic nonprofits moved the bulk of their fundraising […]

Learn More October 8, 2021

A Perfect “How-To-Book” is Born

Tom Ahern is a prolific author of some of the most provably practical fundraising how-to-books in our sector. I have gifted literally scores of Ahern books to colleagues and clients. For good reason. They’re packed with valuable insights and profusely illustrated with helpful examples. Among my favorites is Tom’s Making Money With Donor Newsletters for […]

Learn More June 21, 2021

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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Donor acquisition

Sustainer Week +/- 2

Exciting Breakthroughs on Give Now and Pay Later

Avoiding Being Asked? Say it Ain’t So.

What if Donors Could Give More Now and Pay Later?

7 Fundraising Tips for Surviving the Apocalypse of 2022

Time for a Money Revolution in the Board Room

How Do You Know Which Sustainers are At Risk of Quitting?

“Only You Can Control Your Future.” [Navigation Chart for Fundraisers Enclosed]

Taking Advantage of Donor Loyalty, the Donor-Centered Way

A Perfect “How-To-Book” is Born

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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