Uncategorized - Agitator

Communications

The Weak-Minded Nonsense of Generational Marketing

One of our most enjoyable and simultaneously painful Don Quixote quests is attacking the windmills of horseshit that are generational marketing and other random segmentation schemes posing as human insight. We’ve cited reams of evidence and data galore undermining the weak-minded nonsense of generational marketing, the clusterf#$% of cluster analysis and personas to nowhere. (Here, […]

Learn More August 19, 2020

How to Move Your Donor Comms Plan From “More” to “Better” in 4 Steps

Imagine, instead of GDPR or opt-in requirements or any of the byzantine rules you may have on who to communicate to and when, the new rule was this: You aren’t allowed to communicate without knowing something meaningful about the person you were writing to? ‘Meaningful’ doesn’t mean a description of what they are, e.g. age, […]

Learn More August 17, 2020

Is Your Donor Angry or Dissatisfied?

Is your donor angry or dissatisfied? Hopefully donor dissatisfaction and anger are rare in your organization though first year retention rates make a pretty strong argument for dissatisfaction being a major concern. Service failures can take many forms – e.g. name spelled wrong, sending too many solicitations, leading donors to wonder if their donation was […]

Learn More August 14, 2020

After 2000 Years, Your Chance to Make Matching Gift History

Today we’re serving a helping of Roman history paired with the an elixir to lift your pandemic depressed spirits by helping an association of fundraisers in New Zealand that’s in dire straits. Over the years we’ve offered up dozens of posts on Matching Gifts – the do’s, don’ts and effective alternatives. But, horror of horrors, […]

Learn More August 12, 2020

How Do We Get the Damn Envelope Opened?

It is as true as it is unhelpful to note that the outer envelope (OE) must be opened before someone can pay attention to the insides and send back the reply form or not (almost always, not…). There is certainly a lot of envelope testing done, no disputing that. But, is there any theory guiding […]

Learn More August 10, 2020

In Their Own Words: Satisfaction and Frustration in the Donor Experience

When donors have their psychological needs satisfied, they’re more likely to give and keep giving because they’ll really want to. We previously talked about donors’ basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. As a quick refresher: autonomy refers to feelings of choice and volition; competence to feelings of making a positive difference, and relatedness […]

Learn More August 7, 2020

Death of the US Postal Service Exaggerated

Thought we’d bring some of the old band back for this timely topic—the state of the US Postal Service and the deliverability of direct mail. In simpler times—say 2019— the U.S. Postal Service was not a political football. But as with so many of 2020’s “features,” that’s where we are. Thankfully, much of the harshest […]

Learn More August 5, 2020

The “Intention to Give” Giving Gap

There is an entire field of study, decades old, focused on the relationship between intention to do something and doing it – intended behavior vs. actual behavior. This is far more involved and practical than the too simplistic and quite misleading adage that ‘people don’t do what they say’. In fact, the intention to do […]

Learn More August 3, 2020

Let Freedom Ring

The splendid and vile sides of America’s polarized politics were both on full display yesterday. As moving tributes to U.S. Representative John R. Lewis, the civil rights icon most closely associated with voting rights, were delivered at his funeral in Atlanta, Donald Trump issued a contemptible and foreboding Tweet suggesting the U.S. “Delay the Election […]

Learn More July 31, 2020

The Path of Continuous Improvement

Test ideas should, among other things, work backwards from the behavior one is trying to influence. Sure, the brown kraft test envelope might do better than the plain white control, but why? And is it going to increase response rate or average gift? And is it better with everyone or just a select group and […]

Learn More July 29, 2020

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

The Weak-Minded Nonsense of Generational Marketing

How to Move Your Donor Comms Plan From “More” to “Better” in 4 Steps

Is Your Donor Angry or Dissatisfied?

After 2000 Years, Your Chance to Make Matching Gift History

How Do We Get the Damn Envelope Opened?

In Their Own Words: Satisfaction and Frustration in the Donor Experience

Death of the US Postal Service Exaggerated

The “Intention to Give” Giving Gap

Let Freedom Ring

The Path of Continuous Improvement

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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