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Nabuur to Neighbor to Neighbour

One of the great movement entrepreneurs of the past 15 years is a Dutchman little known outside his home territory of the Netherlands and in global wildlife conservation circles. His name is Siegfried Woldhek (he's the guy on the right in the photo to the left above) and he's pioneering a new way of volunteer […]

Learn More November 12, 2006

Fishing With The Right Gear

Campus Progress, youth-oriented arm of the Center for American Progress, has been running a multi-media campaign dealing with the burden of student debt. The campaign involves online video ads running on the Washington Post and Slate.com sites (and viewable on YouTube), as well as on theater screens in eight cities, video banners on .edu-targeted sites, […]

Learn More November 10, 2006

Who Deserves The Credit?

We at The Agitator consider ourselves determinedly independent when it comes to politics, so we won't weep if a few progressive Republicans were elected here and there across America yesterday (though we're hard pressed to think of any … maybe Arnold). That said, we can live with the Dems winning control of the House, and […]

Learn More November 8, 2006

Still Waiting for the Revolution

Today, as voters go to the polls and we await the returns of the mid-term elections, others are already hard at work strategizing, politickin' and prognosticating about the forthcoming 2008 presidential campaigns. Yesterday's release of the Pew Research Center's study tited “The Internet and Politics: No Revolution, Yet” is great food spiced with a a […]

Learn More November 7, 2006

Reprieve for Postage Meters

Ginger Stickel, like most Americans, has been getting a lot more junk mail these days.” Thus reads the lead in a New York Times piece headlined “Junk Mail is Alive and Growing”. Ahhh, music to my ears. Remember back just five years when so many industry pundits predicted that the internet and e-marketing meant the […]

Learn More November 6, 2006

Meet Youthful Passion – Mary Joyce

How refreshing it is to “meet” Mary Joyce, the latest “Person of the Week” from Politics Online. Mary's short career began in 1999 as a high school volunteer for the Bill Bradley presidential campaign. But her true love — using digital technology to empower citizen activism in developing world countries — seems to have been […]

Learn More November 5, 2006

Oprah and the Gift of Giving Back

On her show that aired Monday, Oprah Winfrey gave more than 300 audience members each a $1,000 debit card sponsored by the Bank of America to donate to a charitable cause. Famous for giving members of her audience new cars, paying off their debts, or fulfilling their wildest dreams, Oprah has now given what she […]

Learn More November 1, 2006

Campaign Ads To Be Ashamed Of

We're now a week away from the long-awaited mid-term elections. Conventional wisdom runs deep that the GOP will post big losses and the Dems will gain. Meanwhile, the remaing days of the campaign countdown will find millions of television -watching voters exposed every 10 or 15 minutes to a barrage of campaign spots. The New […]

Learn More October 31, 2006

Into the Darkness: An Editor’s Plea

Each day five or six of us read dozens of news items, a half dozen polls and research studies and try our best to put together the 'editorial budget' for The Agitator. Noble, sure. Effective, I'm not so sure. Why? Each week hundreds of regular, repeat readers visit this site. You are folks who clearly […]

Learn More October 30, 2006

You Can Win $1,000, Maybe Even $100,000

No, not by completing our Staying Ahead of the Curve survey (see right column, top). For that, you simply earn our gratitude and some insight into how your peers are doing when Agitator reports the results. For $1,000 or $100,000 in prize money, you need to win Carson Daly's (originator of MTV's “TRL” phenom) “It's […]

Learn More October 29, 2006

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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Uncategorized

Nabuur to Neighbor to Neighbour

Fishing With The Right Gear

Who Deserves The Credit?

Still Waiting for the Revolution

Reprieve for Postage Meters

Meet Youthful Passion – Mary Joyce

Oprah and the Gift of Giving Back

Campaign Ads To Be Ashamed Of

Into the Darkness: An Editor’s Plea

You Can Win $1,000, Maybe Even $100,000

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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