Uncategorized - Agitator

Communications

I Think, Maybe

Conversational hedges are words or phrases indicating uncertainty, tentativeness, or modesty in a conversation. Words like “maybe,” “I think,” or “I’m not sure”. What role do they play? They can make the speaker appear more credible and trustworthy by acknowledging uncertainty. Hedges can also make the speaker seem less pushy, which in turn makes the […]

Learn More December 14, 2022

PI…WWW…AI

I’m old enough to remember the world pre-internet, PI, and the first, niche Tandy personal computers. The screens were microscopic, monotone. You’d run some basic scripts on DOS prompts and that was about it. Early internet was terminally slow but we didn’t know any better. You can still hear the whirring, dinging and high pitched […]

Learn More December 12, 2022

Supporter Motivation Is Under Your Control

Motivation is arguably the coin of the fundraising realm. If a donor feels motivated to give, they’ll keep doing it. Motivation differs by amount, a lot or little and by type, high or low quality. And most importantly it differs by situation or context. We all experience this; different levels of motivation for different jobs […]

Learn More December 9, 2022

What Should You Know When You “Know” A Donor?

Charities love to segment and design appeals and giving programs to fit a group. These groups are typically created using demographics (age or income) or donors’ giving history – sustainers, lapsed sustainers, one-time donors. Segmentation works, helping create more effective appeals. Giving Tuesday can mean something very different to, say, a long-time monthly donor versus […]

Learn More December 7, 2022

Regret Is A Terrible Thing to Waste

Are you less likely to do something again if you regret it? Giving can produce regret and that regret makes me anticipate regret the next time I’m asked to give. And it’s that anticipated regret, caused by prior, experienced regret that makes me less likely to give again. Habits cut both ways and we can […]

Learn More December 5, 2022

Impulse Giving is Deliberative

That’s the oxymoronic finding from research among donors who selected “it was an impulse decision” from a drop-down menu prompt in a hospice organization’s online checkout process asking why they were donating today. These donors were further qualified as not having been prompted to visit the site from a fundraising prompt and only having made […]

Learn More December 2, 2022

One Panda Or Four?

Researchers asked separate groups of people how much they’d donate to save 2,000, 20,000 or 200,000 migrating birds drowning in an oil pond. The mean responses are stunningly similar, $80, $78 and $88. This underscores what is wonkily called “scope neglect” or the inability or unwillingness to factor in the size of the problem as part […]

Learn More November 30, 2022

People Who Do, Do, The Rest Meet

I have a love/hate with meetings. I love to hate them though I suspect meetings are a bit like capitalism, the worst option save all the others. We’ve tried and tried to re-invent the Monday morning staff meeting, a ritualistic practice guaranteed to be a waste of time for 90% at any given point. The […]

Learn More November 28, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving

We’re grateful for the time you give The Agitator. We’re grateful for your thoughts and comments. We’re grateful for the work you do for Others. We’re grateful for You. Happy Thanksgiving! Roger and Kevin P.S. And if you’re […]

Learn More November 24, 2022

Your Unicorn is Only Two Clicks Away

Click. Like. Follow. Attend. Or is it attend, follow, click, like? Non-financial behavior may be useful but there are lots of weak-tea ideas being trotted out under the banner of Engagement requiring Agitator scrutiny. Here are my top two notions about Engagement that should be relegated to the dung pile where optimists and engagement hustlers look for […]

Learn More November 21, 2022

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

I Think, Maybe

PI…WWW…AI

Supporter Motivation Is Under Your Control

What Should You Know When You “Know” A Donor?

Regret Is A Terrible Thing to Waste

Impulse Giving is Deliberative

One Panda Or Four?

People Who Do, Do, The Rest Meet

Happy Thanksgiving

Your Unicorn is Only Two Clicks Away

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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