Uncategorized - Agitator

Breaking Out of the Status Quo

Are You Doing “segmentation” or Segmentation?

For purposes of this post all versions of “segmentation” that include air quotes” ” and a lower case ‘s’ are not segmentation at all. Sadly, most versions of claimed Segmentation are really little more than the impersonating cousin named “segmentation”. None of the following is real Segmentation; Mailing the same thing to different audiences. An […]

Learn More December 22, 2021

A Charity Just Bought A Behavioral Science Agency, Why?

Nesta is a social change, UK foundation whose seed money came from government. The Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) is a behavioral insights consultancy whose seed money also came from government. With a little bit of creativity in financing and deal making, the former just bought the latter for £15mil. Why? The answer from Nesta’s own […]

Learn More December 20, 2021

What Images to Use in Fundraising?

Any answer to this question should start with ‘it depends’. What follows should include, Some theory or evidence on what makes images different and Theory or evidence on what makes people who are looking at the images different and the interplay between the two. However, most answers to this question include pontificating about #1 only, […]

Learn More December 17, 2021

Emotional Contagion in Social

Emotional contagion is the phenomenon of humans feeling and expressing emotions similar to those around them. This effect can be triggered by face to face conversations, videos, movies, photographs and even music. Sad begets sad, happy begets happy and angry begets angry. An analysis of Facebook charity posts from the 100 largest US charities shows […]

Learn More December 15, 2021

3 Lasting Gifts Under $2 for Your Donors

From monthly Apples and Pears to Zoo gift memberships my postal and digital mailboxes are filled with last minute tips for holiday gift giving. All of which got me thinking about gifts every fundraiser should be giving their donors. I’m not talking about calendars or stuffed animals or tote bags. Rather consider these essential gifts […]

Learn More December 13, 2021

Everybody Has Got a Story

Is there a more overused word than ‘narrative’ these days? I’ve tried to remove it from my vocabulary. Story is simpler anyway. So much of fundraising has no story. This isn’t conjecture. We’ve scored hundreds of pieces of copy and the Story Score (per Copy Optimizer) is dreadful and most often it’s not because the […]

Learn More December 10, 2021

The Uniqueness of Generations?

In an Agitator rarity, we give you the unabridged post of another, Bob Hoffman, whose profaneness is outdone only by an Agitator editor (or two). Enough said, here’s Bob. One of the great idiocies of the marketing industry is the belief in the uniqueness of generations — Gen X is this…Millennials are that…Baby Boomers are […]

Learn More December 8, 2021

Helping the Cobbler’s Kids Get Shoes

The International Fundraising Congress (IFC) is in a financial pinch or worse. It’s main economic engine, a well regarded, in-person conference has been shelved for two years running and times are tough. They’re doing what all fundraisers do, fundraise. The seeming irony is the appeal seems awfully organization centric, not particularly personal and missing a […]

Learn More December 6, 2021

Solicitation Volume and Overhead Ratios

Most relationships are messy and involved. This applies to two people as much as it applies to two data points. The relationship is rarely linear and always up and to the right. Underneath those two data points are a myriad of other data points and beneath them, human beings such as donors and those working […]

Learn More December 3, 2021

Arriving Soon: A Choir of Christmas Angels –Update on Supply Chain Woes

These days the first thing Dutch fundraiser John van der Vlies of Keystone Consultancy does each morning is check the GPS coordinates of shipping container packed with 400,000 Christmas angels and bound for Rotterdam. . When I Skyped with John two days ago to check on supply chain and delivery issues in Holland he showed […]

Learn More December 1, 2021

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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Breaking Out of the Status Quo

Are You Doing “segmentation” or Segmentation?

A Charity Just Bought A Behavioral Science Agency, Why?

What Images to Use in Fundraising?

Emotional Contagion in Social

3 Lasting Gifts Under $2 for Your Donors

Everybody Has Got a Story

The Uniqueness of Generations?

Helping the Cobbler’s Kids Get Shoes

Solicitation Volume and Overhead Ratios

Arriving Soon: A Choir of Christmas Angels –Update on Supply Chain Woes

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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