Research - Agitator | DonorVoice

Behavioral Science Posts

Your Gift of 16 Minutes

Adrian Sargeant and his crew at the Philanthropy Centre need 16 minutes of your help. Here’s why. They’re undertaking a major study on how best to measure an organiztion’s “philanthropic orientation.” The end product will be a simple questionnaire that you and other organizations can put to work to determine what steps they need to take […]

Learn More July 18, 2018

See Ya Later, Regulator

We know that trust in nonprofits is waning. You can see it in the Edelman Trust Barometer that we talked about in February, along with the reasons why trust is important to fundraising. And last week, the Charity Commission in the UK came out with similar results, showing a drop in trust for UK […]

Learn More July 15, 2018

What Happens When Your Boss Has Different Goals?

Nonprofits need to exist as long as their issue exists. Most deal with long-term problems. Thus, they need to exist in the long-term. That’s why we preach retention above almost all other things – the donors you have are the ones who will sustain you. As a fundraising professional, it’s your responsibility to think about […]

Learn More July 10, 2018

A $400 Billion Industry Powered by Anecdote

You’d think a $400 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 July 6, 2018

What About People Who Don’t Answer Donor Surveys?

When you are in the business of asking donors about themselves and customizing their donor journeys based on that, you almost always get the question: “But what about those folks who don’t answer the survey?” There are couple of answers to this. The first is: keep asking. If there’s a datum that you need to […]

Learn More June 21, 2018

The Tragedy of the Donor Commons

“Picture a pasture open to all. It is to be expected that each herdsman will try to keep as many cattle as possible on the commons. … the rational herdsman concludes that the only sensible course for him to pursue is to add another animal to his herd. And another; and another… But this is […]

Learn More June 5, 2018

Are You Missing the Golden Middle?

In 1987 I launched a series of highly successful mid-level giving programs and for years wondered why others weren’t doing the same. So, when Tom and I started The Agitator we began ranting on the subject, urging folks to get on board. For example, hereand here. And so did others like Mark Phillips of BlueFrog with […]

Learn More June 4, 2018

Agitator Cliff Notes: “Hacking Marketing”

This time, I’m going with a non-fundraising book: Hacking Marketing by Scott Brinker of Chief Marketing Technologist fame. The idea is how to take the lessons from the agile software development movement and apply them to more traditional marketing. In the book, Scott espouses agile marketing values of: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Responding to […]

Learn More May 24, 2018

Agitator Cliff Notes: “The Why Axis”

Next up is The Why Axis, by Uri Gneezy and John List, two of the community of economists who work on charitable giving. Roger had already covered one item I had noted back in 2013: that 1:1 matches work just as well as 2:1 or 3:1 matches. And I talked about how people give more […]

Learn More May 23, 2018

Agitator Cliff Notes: “Data Driven Nonprofits”

I have a confession to make. I still dog-ear pages. Yes, this goes against my former-library-employee training. No, I don’t leave books open so it breaks their poor spine; I’m not a total monster. Yes, I know I can take pictures of the pages and put them on Evernote or Pocket now. Yes, I can […]

Learn More May 22, 2018

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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Behavioral Science Posts

Your Gift of 16 Minutes

See Ya Later, Regulator

What Happens When Your Boss Has Different Goals?

A $400 Billion Industry Powered by Anecdote

What About People Who Don’t Answer Donor Surveys?

The Tragedy of the Donor Commons

Are You Missing the Golden Middle?

Agitator Cliff Notes: “Hacking Marketing”

Agitator Cliff Notes: “The Why Axis”

Agitator Cliff Notes: “Data Driven Nonprofits”

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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