Uncategorized - Agitator

Breaking Out of the Status Quo

Thank View Very Much

I’m certain all Agitator readers have been devoting their locked-down hours concentrating on donor experience and retention, while far too many of those non-Agitator folks have been frittering away time perfecting their Netflix schedule. Consequently, as a reward for your diligence I want to introduce you to a powerful, easy-to-use tool that’s about as wonderful as […]

Learn More May 15, 2020

Are They Coming for Your Organization?

Just as I was calming down from my rant on tv’s coronavirus carnival barkers I opened a note from Nick Ellinger, who’s now over at Moore seeking asylum after fleeing the commotion here at The Agitator. When Nick writes, I read. Accompanying his note was a piece titled Anti-overhead is anti-charity. It’s a disturbing reminder […]

Learn More May 13, 2020

“We’re All In This Together” is Horseshit

While Walmart, Amazon, Target and dozens of other retail giants are under-paying and under-protecting their “essential” workers and callously sending them off to the ventilators, the rest of us are being numbed at home with a blitz of cynical and shoddy consumer advertising. While low-wage, uninsured food workers, with no real option to stay at […]

Learn More May 11, 2020

Should We Reward Supporters or Not?

Before I answer, let’s take a small step back… As fundraisers, we employ different techniques to motivate people to give. But, as we explained before, there’s good and bad motivation. We can definitely make people give by triggering controlled motivation e.g. if you don’t give, this child will starve. But that’s not the goal. Why? Because […]

Learn More May 8, 2020

The Right Kind of Donor Motivation

Emotionally manipulative messages can backfire because of psychological reactance, that rebellious response people sometimes show when they feel unduly pressured. They may still give in the moment but your donor retention hinges on your ability to create a sense of autonomy in your donors. But how to do that? And can it be measured and […]

Learn More May 6, 2020

Beware of Psychological Reactance

“Tug on donors’ heartstrings…” “Make them feel pain and sorrow… “ “Guilt them into giving…” “We want donors to feel like giving will bring them closer to God’s heart…” “The quickest route to connection is fear and pain…” “By giving, donors will get relief from their emotional discomfort…” If statements like these characterize your approach […]

Learn More May 4, 2020

“The Best Way to Predict the Future Is To Create It.

Who knows whether this pandemic will produce a merely difficult or a truly dreadful future for fundraising. Will the surprisingly strong results many organizations are currently experiencing continue or will they drastically diminish as the economic meltdown predicted by most experts ensues? There’re a hundred variations of this question. At this stage there are no […]

Learn More April 29, 2020

M+R 2020 Online Benchmarks Released

On April 23d, the day the Covid-19 death count reached 50,000 in the U.S., M+R published its 2020 Online Benchmarks. [ You can also find an online session M+R did with NTEN on the study here. ] Although the data were collected before the coronavirus outbreak and the massive tumult and tragedy that’s followed, this […]

Learn More April 27, 2020

How to Get Your Share of the NEW PPP Money

Congress has passed and the president has signaled he’ll sign into law the legislation that makes an additional $321 billion available to small businesses and charities. We offer up some practical suggestions to perhaps help Agitator readers increase your chances of getting money. Because, as it turns out, the money does not flow based on […]

Learn More April 24, 2020

What Makes for Good Fundraising Copy?

At its core, it’s words. Google thinks an email is ‘good’ – meaning they don’t bury it in a spam or promotion or social folder – if it reads like something you’d get from a friend, something that sounds personal and involving based (in part) on the words used. And what about those “personal” and […]

Learn More April 22, 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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Breaking Out of the Status Quo

Thank View Very Much

Are They Coming for Your Organization?

“We’re All In This Together” is Horseshit

Should We Reward Supporters or Not?

The Right Kind of Donor Motivation

Beware of Psychological Reactance

“The Best Way to Predict the Future Is To Create It.

M+R 2020 Online Benchmarks Released

How to Get Your Share of the NEW PPP Money

What Makes for Good Fundraising Copy?

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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