Uncategorized - Agitator

Advocacy Fundraising

Stick It To Them

Folks love stickers. And buttons. And decals. And bumper stickers. Seems like every movement moment has a symbol. From voting to vaccination, seals to save the manatee, the badges of civic pride and involvement are worn proudly, as are the more ideological varieties proclaiming their owner’s commitment to this cause or that movement. With “I’ve […]

Learn More March 10, 2021

Removing and Adding Words to Make Copy Better

Jeff Brooks wrote a post way back in 2011, which is a millenia ago in Covid years. He gave prescient advice on removing words to make copy better. Among his list, Removing the first one to three paragraphs. He describes these as mostly “warm up” and extraneous. We’d agree. Most copy is not good and […]

Learn More March 8, 2021

Transactional Segmentation is NOT Strategic Segmentation

“Wait!”, I hear you cry. “You preach on cause and effect and past behavior does predict future behavior. How is that not strategic?” We’ll stipulate: A person will tend to give the amounts that they have given in the past A current donor is more likely to give than a lapsed donor A donor who […]

Learn More March 5, 2021

Two climbers walk into a bar…

A man and woman walk into a bar and sit beside a fundraiser. Stop me if you’ve heard this one. The Fundraiser says to the man and woman, “I work for a charity helping make sure outdoor enthusiasts have access to public lands.” In unison, the Man and Woman, say, “We just came here for […]

Learn More March 3, 2021

Walmart’s Mega Nudging Test

Walmart partnered with academics whose listing on the published paper reads like the credits on a Hollywood blockbuster movie, which is to say almost as long as the movie. The aim? Increasing flu vaccination rates in hopes it would provide guidance for increasing Covid vaccine uptake. This team of social scientists came up with 22 […]

Learn More March 1, 2021

Donor Autonomy on Steroids

Is there such a thing as giving too much control to donors? The sector generally operates as though donor control is bad at worst and undesirable at best This sector norm is reflected in many conventional practices: not publishing or promoting or making clear how donors names will be sold eight ways to Sunday […]

Learn More February 26, 2021

Do Rich Donors Differ from Not-Rich Donors? From “Middle”-Rich Donors?

Do people writing four figure checks (i.e. $1,000 to $9,999) have different needs from those donating $20 or those moving the comma and decimal point to the right for an even larger gift? What about the “high touch package to create an elevated donor experience” for the four-figure check group? This is a recommendation in […]

Learn More February 24, 2021

Revenge Giving

Among the many unconventional topics we’ve posted on– rage giving, the Trump bump ( here, here and here among many), and have even dick pics and mince pie— today’s entry takes the prize. When Tommy Marcus, a 25-year-old University of Michigan graduate, learned that Rush Limbaugh had died, he recalled Limbaugh saying, “You know how […]

Learn More February 22, 2021

Heeding The Patient Prediction of Steve MacLaughlin

For years Steve MacLaughlin, VP of Product Management at Blackbaud and author of Data Driven Nonprofits has patiently predicted that online giving would grow beyond 10% of total giving. 2020 was the year it finally happened. The detail of this online breakthrough –along with a treasure trove of other giving data – is reflected in […]

Learn More February 19, 2021

Cat People and Dog People

Are you a cat person or a dog person? The answer to that might impact your choice of a (potential) mate. A recent study explored this and the findings dance between “water is wet”to the “trivial” but with just enough “novel” to warrant mention. Let’s get trivial and water is wet out of the way. […]

Learn More February 17, 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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Advocacy Fundraising

Stick It To Them

Removing and Adding Words to Make Copy Better

Transactional Segmentation is NOT Strategic Segmentation

Two climbers walk into a bar…

Walmart’s Mega Nudging Test

Donor Autonomy on Steroids

Do Rich Donors Differ from Not-Rich Donors? From “Middle”-Rich Donors?

Revenge Giving

Heeding The Patient Prediction of Steve MacLaughlin

Cat People and Dog People

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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