Nonprofit management - Agitator

Communications

Is Your Nonprofit Fashionable?

To succeed as a nonprofit today, either in fundraising or advocacy terms, Seth Godin says you need to be "fashionable." What he means by that, as explained in this audio presentation well worth a listen, is that your organization needs to be worth talking about, at least to some critical mass of true believers. Your […]

Learn More September 19, 2008

AGITATOR WEEKEND: Ambient Awareness and Much, Much More

The Agitator’s Week In Review. This week the U.S. marked the 7th anniversary of 9/11 … in a huge tunnel under Geneva the biggest science project –10,000 scientists and $10 billion – got underway in an attempt to understand the secrets of the universe by recreating the moments just after the Big Bang … the […]

Learn More September 13, 2008

Shifting To Interactive/Digital Marketing

eMarketing & Commerce reports that Epsilon, in a survey of 175 Chief Marketing Officers of major corporations, finds that 63% are moving their marketing spend toward more interactive/digital marketing. And away from traditional marketing media like TV and print.Where will they be spending their marketing dollars? According to the survey: Social computing — including word […]

Learn More September 12, 2008

The Real Costs Of Online Fundraising

Here is a terrific "must read" article on the true costs of online fundraising, courtesy of Fundraising Success. Apart from its thoughtful content, what I like about this article is that it’s written by a development director, not an online whiz kid, so it offers valuable perspective. I question how many development directors could be […]

Learn More September 5, 2008

Are Hispanics Important To You?

For most US nonprofit fundraisers, Hispanics are probably just appearing on the edge of their radar as an audience to target. Indeed, fundraisers prepared to retire within, say, the next ten years can probably do so before they need to show hard results from this population. But for the rest of you, this is an […]

Learn More August 27, 2008

Avoiding The Dead Zone

Lift your head above the weeds for a few moments and think about this admonition from marketing maven Seth Godin. Talking about marketing, he says that what works is either purely "authentic" or super "slick." In between authentic and slick is The Dead Zone. In that zone, everything fails. Says Godin: "We crave handmade authenticity […]

Learn More August 21, 2008

Disruptive Technologies and the Innovator’s Dilemma

In 1995 Clayton Christensen coined the terms “disruptive technology” and “disruptive innovations” to describe technological innovations, products or services that use a “disruptive” strategy rather than “revolutionary” or “sustaining” strategies to overturn dominant or status quo products in a market. “Disruptive innovations” can occasionally come to dominate an existing market, either by filling a role […]

Learn More August 12, 2008

The Value Of Volunteers

Today’s post is by Guest Agitator Bob Roth. He’s trying to figure out a way to encourage volunteerism, in part by being more systematic in the way we place value on the work volunteers do. Bob fell into the world of internet marketing in the mid-1990s when the sole job requirement was being a hard-working, […]

Learn More August 11, 2008

What It Takes To Win

Think about a nonprofit group — other then your own — that you really admire for their effectiveness. What, in your judgment, makes them so effective? Here’s an article on an organization I admire … the Humane Society of the US. Why do I think they are effective? Here are four reasons, which I happen […]

Learn More August 4, 2008

Measuring Your Marketing

As reported in the Chronicle’s online column Prospecting, the American Marketing Association and marketing agency Lipman Hearne recently surveyed 1012 nonprofits on their marketing practices. Their report, available here if you register, is an interesting read … and lots of response data to benchmark your noprofit against. What struck me was te relatively low scores […]

Learn More July 21, 2008

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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The Agitator Tool Box

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