Uncategorized - Agitator

Copywriting / creative

Walking, Life’s Creativity Hack

Philosopher Nietzsche wrote, “all truly great thoughts are conceived by walking”. What about merely creative thoughts? Creativity can foster workplace success though most efforts involve training, which can be effective but the limiting factor is motivation and stick-with-it-ness. Turns out, a short, at your own pace walk can do wonders to increase divergent and convergent […]

Learn More November 18, 2022

Are Your Email Donors Different from Your Mail Donors?

The polls got a relative drubbing in 2016 but their long-term win rate is off the charts. One 2016 theory alive and well going into 2022 was polls suffered from response bias, the people willing to be polled had different candidate preference from those showing up to vote. More specifically, Republican voters were less willing […]

Learn More November 16, 2022

Avoid the Snoringly Generic Approach to GivingTuesday

Kevin’s post, The Median Charity Theory , makes clear the behavioral science principle of minimal differentiation applies to most nonprofits. Consequently, most swim happily in the Sea of Sameness bobbing about on the good ships “Same Old, Same Old” and “Ask More, Make More” taking little risk and making little effort to stand out from the crowd. […]

Learn More November 14, 2022

The Median Charity Theory

The US Election outcome suggests the Median Voter Theory is alive and well. It argues the candidate closest to the conceptual, median voter wins. Why? Voters choose the candidate closest to them and in a 2 candidate race the rational, vote maximizing position for the candidate to stake out is the middle. This theory purposefully […]

Learn More November 11, 2022

Does Your Giving Cup Spilleth Over?

If my first giving experience was good, will I be more or less likely to give the 2nd time? This needn’t be rhetorical as obvious as the answer may seem. We routinely measure satisfaction with the giving experience and see a strong, causal link in the direction you’d expect – good is good, bad is […]

Learn More November 9, 2022

Giving Research a Bad Name

I’m on record saying most research is garbage in, garbage out. I’ve produced some of it over the years, giving me seasoned perspective. And, at the time, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. The reason most research sucks is threefold, Poorly designed survey. Survey design is a science. No analysis beyond […]

Learn More November 4, 2022

The Path to Hell is Paved With…Adverbs

So wrote Stephen King in his book, On Writing, further exclaiming he’d shout it from the rooftops. Adverbs aren’t officially a part of our Copy Optimizer Readability or Story Scores but they are a weak part of speech, leading to lifeless, dull writing. The show don’t tell adage is as known as it is ignored. […]

Learn More November 2, 2022

Is Your Charity More Like Edgar Allen Poe or Jules Verne?

Edgar Allan Poe arguably invented the modern detective story and was a key creator of the Symbolism movement in poetry, plus he wrote one of the first science fiction novels in 1838. He died young and penniless. Jules Verne invented nothing though gets credit in some quarters for inventing the sci-fi genre with his 1863 […]

Learn More October 31, 2022

Simple Writing Pays Off (Literally)

I stole this headline from a Harvard Business Review article. The literal in this case is, well, literal. [Sidebar: Are we all going to stand idly by while “literal”, literally becomes synonymous with figurative? My British friends blame Americans and vice versa. I say a pox on both our houses, it’s happening, let’s put out […]

Learn More October 28, 2022

People With Less Free Time Volunteer More?

I’ve always heard the cash or time trope. Hell, I’ve said it. People give of time or treasure depending on which resource they have more of. Makes perfect sense except there’s little evidence beyond the anecdotal to support it. A German research study examines the impact of income and life’s other competing interests on discretionary […]

Learn More October 26, 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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Copywriting / creative

Walking, Life’s Creativity Hack

Are Your Email Donors Different from Your Mail Donors?

Avoid the Snoringly Generic Approach to GivingTuesday

The Median Charity Theory

Does Your Giving Cup Spilleth Over?

Giving Research a Bad Name

The Path to Hell is Paved With…Adverbs

Is Your Charity More Like Edgar Allen Poe or Jules Verne?

Simple Writing Pays Off (Literally)

People With Less Free Time Volunteer More?

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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