Nonprofit management

Poor Research & Undocumented Best Practices — Barriers To Growth, Part 6

You’d think a $300 billion industry like ours would have empirically based standards and practices readily available and accessible to all. After all, most sectors — ranging from apple growers to doctors and hospitals, and even zoos — have them. Fundraising doesn’t. What we do have is mass of accumulated tribal wisdom, often conflicting, seldom […]

Learn More June 19, 2014

Tsk…Tsk, Tut…Tut

No doubt Monday’s news that Greenpeace suffered a $5.2 million loss on an ill-timed bet in the currency market will unleash a tsunami of tsk-tsking and tut-tutting in our sector. The Associated Press reported that an employee in the finance department at Greenpeace International headquarters in Amsterdam bet the euro would not strengthen against other […]

Learn More June 18, 2014

Fundraising Agencies — Barriers To Growth, Part 5

A lot of what I’m about to say here will seem offensive to fundraising agencies and insensitive to their problems. I mean to be neither. I decided to call out this thorny barrier to growth because I’m not alone in observing a dangerous pattern that’s emerging. Higher fees, lost respect, absence of serious innovation – […]

Learn More June 11, 2014

Fired, With Enthusiasm

Or should it be “Fired with enthusiasm”? There’s a big difference as UK fundraiser Ken Burnett sees it. Awhile back, as part of a series Proud to be a fundraiser, Ken wrote Keeping the right fundraisers. He wrote of fundraisers as either “radiators” or “drains” … The radiators, who spread heat and passion, radiating the […]

Learn More June 9, 2014

Clueless CEOs — Barriers To Growth, Part 4

Stagnant organizations are generally marked by lousy boards and clueless, or worse, arrogant CEOs. Without the leadership of an engaged, aware and willing-to-learn CEO you might as well forget about growth. Why? Because there’s likely to be no serious investment funds made available … no radical organizational change, led from the top, to break down […]

Learn More June 2, 2014

Fishing For The Same Fish?

In his series of posts on Barriers to Growth (more to come next week), Roger is focusing on institutional impediments, among them lousy boards, misguided fundraising investment policies, and lack of an internal growth culture. These are issues a nonprofit can attack directly … all that’s required is talent and will, producing smarter fundraising. Let […]

Learn More May 27, 2014

Proud To Be A Fundraiser

Flogging registration and attendance at the U.K.’s Institute of Fundraising’s July Conference, Alan Clayton lays out why pride in our profession is so important. In Proud to Be a Fundraiser, the Clayton of the Clayton Burnett consultancy that commissioned the Great Fundraising study by Adrian Sargeant and Jen Shang reminds readers of Adrian’s intonation: “In […]

Learn More May 21, 2014

Lousy Boards — Barriers To Growth, Part 3

Alfred Sloan was the General Motors Chair and CEO who led GM from the 1920s through the ‘50s and grew it to become largest corporation on Earth at the time. In a board meeting at GM, Sloan asked the board about an important decision: “I take it that everyone is in basic agreement about this […]

Learn More May 19, 2014

Top Fundraising Fallacies

Building on Drayton Bird’s blog, Five shocking lessons from a lifetime in marketing, Jeff Brooks added some fundraising spin of his own with 5 things you wish you already knew. Jeff inspired me to think more specifically about basic marketing mistakes fundraisers make. Here is my first pass at a list of ‘Top Fundraising Fallacies’ […]

Learn More May 15, 2014

The Investment Paradox – Barriers To Growth, Part 2

There’s no question that the shortage of investment funds for fundraising is perceived as a principal barrier to growth. That sentiment was voiced by many attending the DMANF Leadership Summit last week, and it’s certainly a reason offered in a lot of the comments and email from Agitator readers. The solution to this problem may […]

Learn More May 12, 2014

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: