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Demographics

Can’t Fight The Demographics

Yesterday, in the course of making some comments about raising money from Boomers, I published this chart estimating the number of individuals in each cohort prepared by The Boomer Project. Today I want to make a different point about this chart. Today there are already more than twice as many Gen X and Gen Y’ers […]

Learn More June 4, 2010

Managing Your Online Reputation

This report from Pew Research on managing personal online profiles is timely as a follow-up to our posts regarding donor privacy last week (here and here). As Pew reports, individuals are becoming increasingly aware of and sensitive about their online profiles, with many restricting access to personal data and/or editing material posted by others. Pew […]

Learn More June 1, 2010

Facebook Privacy Woes

With so many nonprofits working Facebook into their marketing strategies, it behooves us all to keep an eye on their privacy controversy. Here’s an excellent report on the matter from Bloomberg. It notes that Facebook, now at 519 million users, shows no sign of slowing growth. Traffic was up nearly 5% in the week after […]

Learn More May 27, 2010

Donor Insights From Fenton Communications

Fenton Communications has just released its latest survey of donor attitudes and behavior, looking at 1000 nationally representative US donors who have given at least $20 in the past year. Plenty of interesting findings to chew over here regarding giving plans for the coming year, attributes of nonprofits that donors find most important, most trusted […]

Learn More May 21, 2010

Hispanics Using Social Media

At Engage: Hispanics, Lee Vann of interactive agency Captura Group offers the latest stats on use of social media by Hispanics. Some key factoids: 84% of Hispanics have a broadband connection vs. 79% of Whites 36% of Hispanics view the Internet as tool for building a better life vs. 30% of general market 68% of […]

Learn More May 14, 2010

Who’s Mailing What?

From DirectMarketingIQ, here’s an analysis of the direct mail stream over the past two years. The data are drawn from the 10,000 mail piece archive of Who’s Mailing What! The big news is that fundraising mail has flourished in comparison to other commercial mail over the last two years … rising from 13% of the […]

Learn More May 7, 2010

Who Tweets?

The latest data suggests that Twitter has stalled out at 17 million users. Here’s a good analysis. Personally, I take this as a welcome sign that there is still some semblance of substance and sanity on the planet. If someone in your nonprofit is trumpeting the urgency of getting on board the Twitter phenom, fire […]

Learn More May 6, 2010

Busted Nonprofit brand

I’m hugely impressed with Nancy Schwartz’ analysis of the Komen For The Cure’s (Komen) disastrous cause marketing partnership with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Nancy does a terrific job of both dissecting the bad idea itself and then commenting on Komen’s communications response (or more accurately, lack thereof). She calls her article a case study … […]

Learn More May 5, 2010

No New Donors!

Seth Godin did one of his trademark "short but sweet" — and provocative — posts the other day, titled, No New Customers. Here it is in its entirety … What if a rift in the time-space continuum changed the universe and it was suddenly impossible to get new customers, new readers, new donors or new […]

Learn More May 4, 2010

Digital Issue Advocacy

Our friend and digital marketing consultant Nick Allen of DonorDigital developed this issue advocacy site — http://doilookillegal.com — for folks to express their opposition to Arizona’s new racist anti-immigrant law. Clever way to get folks engaged and use social media to spread the word. Nick, you deserve a raise! Tom  

Learn More May 3, 2010

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Ask A Behavioral Scientist

    Behavioral Science Q & A

    Q: As a designer who works with non-profits on fundraising strategy, I see the language like the following: “Our supporters help empower every girl, ensuring she has the resources she needs.” I do not think the word “help” is useful–I think “Our supporters empower every girl, ensuring she has the resources she needs. ” is much more engaging. Thoughts?

    Whether “help” is more engaging or not really depends on the framing and context. The word help can sometimes weaken the perceived agency of the supporter, making their role feel secondary rather than central (your point). On the other hand, help can also signal collaboration rather than implying full ownership of the outcome, which might […]

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    Q: We started offering a donor cover option last april 1. The data to date suggests this may be dampening giving.eg. those who say yes to donor cover have a lower average gift (based on analysis of 6000+ gifts). I’m wondering if those who give lower gifts feel more guilt and therefore say yes to donor cover or if the presence of donor cover is making people adjust (lower) their gift size to accommodate the extra 3%. Would love any insights you have.

    Great question! Here’s how behavioral science can help unpack what might be happening: Pain of Paying: Even a small extra charge can make giving feel more transactional than emotional, potentially reducing generosity. Fairness Concerns: Some donors might perceive donor cover as a surcharge rather than a contribution to the cause. If they feel the charity […]

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    Q: When writing an appeal, I waffle back and forth between writing “Your gift CAN…” or “Your gift WILL…” Any studies of which of these two words is best for an appeal?

    The choice between “Your gift CAN…” and “Your gift WILL…” taps into the psychological framing of certainty vs. possibility. Currently, there is no academic research directly comparing these two framings in charitable appeals. However, I suspect no framing is universally better—the outcome likely depends on your target audience and the campaign’s goal. Here are some thoughts: Certainty Framing – […]

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    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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