Online fundraising and marketing

Testing Website Usability

You wouldn't blitz a major direct mail acquisition package to hundreds of thousands of prospects without testing, would you? I hope not! Then why would you offer a website — probably your major gateway to the public (and your members) these days — without testing its effectiveness with real live users? This article from ClickZ […]

Learn More August 29, 2007

Making First Impressions

Unfortunately, your nonprofit might have literally only one or two interactions with a new donor or member before they tune out and disappear forever. So first impressions indeed matter, whether delivered by mail, telephone or email. In most cases, your second opportunity to make a “first impression” is when you acknowledge the donor's initial gift […]

Learn More August 28, 2007

Do You Have A Facebook Plan?

Facebook is rapidly becoming the social networking site of choice for middle-aged, well-off, professionals. If your nonprofit doesn't yet have a Facebook face, maybe you should be thinking about it. Facebook is adding 150,000 new users a day. Here are two articles to stir your pot. A recent Business Week article titled “Fogeys Flock to […]

Learn More August 23, 2007

Email Boosts Response For Breast Cancer Walks

Traditional media has always been used to support the National Philanthropic Trust's Breast Cancer 3-Day, a 60-mile-walk fundraiser. Typically, TV, radio, billboards and newspapers would be used to build awareness, and direct mail would then “close the sale” in terms of signing-up participants. But mail was beginning to fall off in effectiveness. So the Trust […]

Learn More August 21, 2007

Email Headache … And Solution

Just when you thought you had figured out how to create emails that look decent and get read, along comes partypooper MarketingSherpa! They say: “64% of key decisionmakers are viewing your carefully crafted email on their Blackberrys and other mobile devices … And, chances are, your email looks downright awful.” Not surprisingly, their data indicate […]

Learn More July 31, 2007

Is Your Nonprofit Headed For The Scrap Heap?

Todd Cohen at Philanthropy Journal has made it easy for The Agitator to furnish a Monday mind stretch this week. Last week he published an outstanding report on Nonprofit Technology. Lots of examples, from nonprofits large and small, of how new communications technologies are being used by organizations and — increasingly and often independently — […]

Learn More July 30, 2007

Is Your Homepage Dead?

Should you think of your nonprofit's homepage as the door to an apartment building, a book, a restaurant, or a first date? Or is it increasingly irrelevant, given today's patterns of internet usage? The issue: fewer and fewer visitors enter a website via its homepage (less than 50% and trending down according to some experts). […]

Learn More July 25, 2007

Direct Mail vs. Online Acquisition – II

“Can't we all just get along?” asks Kim Cubine of direct response fundraising agency Adams Hussey. She's commenting on yesterday's Agitator post, which referenced the “Great Debate” at recent Bridge Conference between direct mail and online donor fundraising. Nothing like hard data to back up a point! Here's her full comment: “Instead of debating which […]

Learn More July 20, 2007

Direct Mail vs. Online Acquisition

The recent Bridge Conference in Washington focused attention on the need for nonprofit fundraisers to integrate their direct mail and online channels. Here's a good summary of key points from Karen Taggart at Care2, as published by FundRaising Success Advisor. As we see it, for virtually all nonprofits, direct mail is still the acquisition king. […]

Learn More July 19, 2007

More Reasons To Monitor Prez Campaigns

We periodically remind our nonprofit org readers to monitor and learn from the communications practices of the presidential campaigns. So here's plenty to stretch your mind on a Monday morning. Not everything these guys do is brilliant, but the campaigns are a hotbed of experimentation with new media approaches. For example, here's a good Washington […]

Learn More July 16, 2007

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: