Nonprofit management - Agitator

Board Meeting Swipe File

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

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

Putting the Donor in Control of Fundraising

Much of what we fundraisers practice and preach will eventually be shown to be wrong or out of date. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, disturbing trends and startling events arise to speed up the re-evaluation and change process. Events like the imposition of new regulatory rules in the U.K. requiring charities to get donors’ permission to […]

Learn More October 26, 2015

Stop Driving Women Out of Fundraising

There are some questions that simply can’t be answered with words. Action is the only answer On so many levels a key — perhaps the key — question is how do we slow or stop the hemorrhaging of talented fundraisers — particularly women — at a time of desperate and growing need. Make no mistake. […]

Learn More October 22, 2015

Unsung Fundraising Heroes

I’m looking forward to speaking next week at the annual meeting of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals because I want to personally thank these unsung heroes. These are the pros who gather, organize, manage and disseminate the information that is the backbone of solid and effective fundraising. Key activities too often ignored or paid short […]

Learn More October 20, 2015

Fundraising By Stereotype: The Quick Path To No Revenue

Editors’ Note: Periodically we reference the wit and wisdom of Jeff Brooks over at FutureFundraisingNow and occasionally run a few snippets. Today we’re featuring an unabridged guest post by Jeff on the pitfalls of relying on myth and stereotype — sadly an all-too-common affliction with many fundraisers. Roger and Tom “How are we going to replace our dying donors?” […]

Learn More October 15, 2015

Hamsters And Fundraising

When it comes to holding on to donors most fundraisers, like fur-less hamsters, seem to treading their way to nowhere. As the Agitator noted last week in our post on the 2015 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Report, just as in past years the number of new donors gained is surpassed by the number of existing donors lost (100 too […]

Learn More October 13, 2015

Fundraising So Simple Only a Child Can Do It Well

The other day I stumbled across a company that raises big bucks in peer-to-peer fundraising for elementary schools in the US. You’ll find it at Boosterthon.com and their proposition is simple. They provide a fully automated peer-to-peer website where parents and kids can plug in videos and photos. The result is an easy-as-pie fundraising campaign […]

Learn More October 7, 2015

And The Band Played On

As Roger wrote last Friday, commenting on the latest Fundraising Effectiveness Report, the nonprofit sector is losing donors faster than it’s gaining them. I’d put it more bluntly … we’re on a sinking ship. Hey, but it’s only a slow leak. At an annual net loss of ‘only’ 3%, it will take us nearly 35 […]

Learn More October 6, 2015

Fundraising Common Sense

Tom and I are always grateful for Comments by fellow Agitators and we weren’t disappointed to the remarks triggered by the post on the 2015 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Report. All the insights were terrific, but I was particularly struck by Michael Rosen’s comment on how quickly some folks seem to dismiss the importance and skill required […]

Learn More October 5, 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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The Agitator Tool Box

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