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Communications

On Giving Thanks

In the aftermath of Paris, Beirut and Bamako and with far too many politicians and demagogues working overtime to seize on the public’s anxieties, prejudices and deepest fears, The Agitator is pausing publication for the next two days to give thanks. Tomorrow is official Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. Many of our readers will be ‘enjoying’ […]

Learn More November 25, 2015

Fixing Hidden Leaks #5: Online Forms

This is the 5th in a series of posts on identifying and fixing hidden leaks in the donor retention bucket. -The Editors In the field of product development ‘the minimum viable product (MVP)’ is the product with the highest return on investment versus risk. When it comes to nonprofit websites and forms it seems to me […]

Learn More August 27, 2015

Sleeping Fundraising Giant Awakens

What advice would you give to Chinese fundraisers intent converting the world’s largest middle class into donors? That was Ken Burnett’s assignment at the First China Fundraising Conference in Beijing last month. The Conference, sponsored by the newly formed China Association of Fundraising Professionals (CAFP) and supported by four major foundations, aimed at putting increased […]

Learn More August 24, 2015

Urgent Alert to U.S. Nonprofits–Immediate Action Needed

If you’re willing to turn over the list of your top donors to the government then you need read no further. However, if you’re not sure, or you’re absolutely certain you’d be unwilling to give up the donor list, then take this post to your CEO and General Counsel. Immediately. Why? Because right now the […]

Learn More August 13, 2015

2015 Half-time Fundraising Score

The Atlas of Giving, the resource that combines both past results along with forecasts of charitable giving in the U.S., recently issued its 2015 Mid-Year Report. The news is good. Giving in the first half of 2015 was “exceptionally (and unexpectedly) strong—up a total of 7.6% to $238.88 billion compared to $222.03 billion for the same period […]

Learn More August 11, 2015

American Cancer Society Flops

If bullshit were the new cure for cancer then the direct marketing staff and consultants of the American Cancer Society should win the Nobel Prize in Medicine hands down. That was pretty much the conclusion of dozens of Agitator readers who phoned, emailed and texted following their attendance at last week’s presentation at the DMANF New […]

Learn More August 10, 2015

Innovation Series #5: Ideas Applied

We’ll end this innovation series with some examples of innovation applied. Here’s Tom’s Top 5 Innovative Fundraising Ideas from two years ago. We invite Agitator readers to update the list with your own entries in our Comments section. Thank you. The Editors By Tom Belford | September 30, 2013 Today I’m shamelessly exploiting the hard work […]

Learn More August 7, 2015

Innovation Series #4: Failure to Innovate

What’s stopping you from innovation. Nothing we can think of except the usual sloth, fear and idiotic board or CEO. Perhaps you can enlighten us. What reasons do you give for failure to innovate? Here’s Tom’s take in his 2012 post Nonprofit Failure is Too Rare. The Editors By Tom Belford | December 6, […]

Learn More August 6, 2015

Innovation Series #3: Exalting the Trivial

A significant barrier to true innovation stems from most nonprofits’ fixation on minutiae that simply doesn’t matter. As part of his 2012 series on Flat Earth Fundraising Roger alerted us to the dangers of Wasting Time by Exalting the Trivial . –The Editors By Roger Craver | July 25, 2012 Within hours of our call for […]

Learn More August 5, 2015

Innovation Series #2: What Causes Innovation

In this 2nd of our series on “Innovation” drawing from the Agitator vault here’s a post How Does Innovation Occur we wrote eight years ago. Still seems current and if you didn’t read the interview the first time around here’s your second chance. The Editors Tom and Roger | July 2, 2007 Here’s an […]

Learn More August 4, 2015

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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Communications

On Giving Thanks

Fixing Hidden Leaks #5: Online Forms

Sleeping Fundraising Giant Awakens

Urgent Alert to U.S. Nonprofits–Immediate Action Needed

2015 Half-time Fundraising Score

American Cancer Society Flops

Innovation Series #5: Ideas Applied

Innovation Series #4: Failure to Innovate

Innovation Series #3: Exalting the Trivial

Innovation Series #2: What Causes Innovation

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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