Nonprofit management - Agitator

Media usage / trends

Your Question for Earth Week

How much carbon is your organization’s website dumping into our atmosphere each year? Not a question you’re likely to encounter at the next board meeting. But one we should all ponder – especially during this year’s Earth Week. Digital is physical and it sure ain’t green. In fact, Digital costs the Earth. Every time you […]

Learn More April 19, 2021

Dealing with Donor Erosion

Most fundraisers don’t even need Artificial Intelligence, machine learning or the expensive gibberish of donor personas and clusters to drive away their donors. In fact, as Kevin pointed out in recent posts many of these gee whiz tech and “scientific” tools may in fact speed up donor erosion by lulling us into dangerous and attrition-filled […]

Learn More April 14, 2021

“We Grow Too Soon Old, and Too Late Smart”

That Dutch proverb popped into my head as I read our friend Erica Waasdorp’s piece Is the Interest in Recurring Giving Really Growing? It’s not just because Erica is Dutch, nor because she’s an expert in monthly giving. It’s because her reading of the just-released Nonprofit Pro’s 2021 Nonprofit Leadership Impact Study correctly raises […]

Learn More April 2, 2021

URGENCY: Fundraising’s Double Edge

Among the Agitator/DonorVoice behavioral science principles related fundraising is that of urgency. A sense of urgency signals the relative importance of a task, tackles our procrastination and motivates us to act. On the other hand our behavioral scientists sound this warning: “Deadlines are often used to signal urgency, but they might backfire. Long deadlines give […]

Learn More March 26, 2021

The Postal Wolf Is At Your Door

This is an urgent postal alert. If your organization uses the U.S. Mail for fundraising, membership development, or communications you should be taking action today. Let me explain. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is expected to announce its next rate increase — a whooping 6% to 8.5% depending on the class of mail—by the […]

Learn More March 24, 2021

Bernie’s Magic Mittens and Abusing Your Donor

One of the light and bright photo by-products of the horrid trifecta of January events in Washington, D.C. – Insurrection, Impeachment, Inauguration—was the terrific photo of Senator Bernie Sanders seated at the Inauguration swathed in parka and hand-knit mittens. Of course it didn’t take long before that photo was transformed into an endless stream of mostly […]

Learn More February 1, 2021

Time Sensitive Alert on Paycheck Protection Program 2.0

We just learned of this FREE webinar on the the new version of PPP taking place TODAY—Thursday at 4:00 p.m . Eastern, 1:00 p.m. Pacific time. This is short notice, but if you register now, even though you can’t attend, a recording and slides from the webinar will be e-mailed to you. BUT ONLY IF […]

Learn More January 21, 2021

Importance of Donor Experience in the Pandemic

Back in November we recommended to readers the event, Fundraising In The Tine Of Covid hosted by the UK’s Chartered Institute of Fundraising and prepared by their Supporter Experience Special Interest Group which aims to inspire and persuade organizations to improve their donors’ experience. Apparently, the event was a rousing success. In fact, our friend Giles […]

Learn More January 13, 2021

Fundraising While Rioting

On Wednesday I was glued to the TV cursing-while-crying as the Trump Mob attacked and ransacked the U.S. Capitol. Two hours into the attack—during the attack—an iPhone alert sounded. The text message, topped by a photo of D.C. cops pushing against some rioters and bearing the headline “This is What We Are Up Against”, contained […]

Learn More January 8, 2021

A Twitter Tantrum to Read and Heed

Last year at this time I was moving along to finish a Year in Review post when a Tweet storm caught my eye. Usually, I ignore ‘em while writing, but this series struck a nerve. In fact, it reveals how we so ignore and frustrate basic donor needs that I wonder how we even survive. […]

Learn More January 6, 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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Media usage / trends

Your Question for Earth Week

Dealing with Donor Erosion

“We Grow Too Soon Old, and Too Late Smart”

URGENCY: Fundraising’s Double Edge

The Postal Wolf Is At Your Door

Bernie’s Magic Mittens and Abusing Your Donor

Time Sensitive Alert on Paycheck Protection Program 2.0

Importance of Donor Experience in the Pandemic

Fundraising While Rioting

A Twitter Tantrum to Read and Heed

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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