Search Results for: survey
Does Biden/Trump Winning 2024 Lower Charitable Giving?
The answer is an emphatic yes and no. The classic case of crowding out is government spending on social ills that lowers the need for individuals to give. Empirical evidence for this effect has been mixed. But, what if the effect is more complicated than that and what if it has nothing to do with […]
Trust in the Eye of the Beholder?
We do a lot of surveys. Heck, I’ve got an advanced degree in Survey Methodology, whatever the hell that means. Surveys are ubiquitous it seems, especially in politics and public policy. Your organization might do a survey for constituent understanding or for public release to advocate for this or that cause. What makes surveys trustworthy […]
If You’re Good at Something Does it Matter More?
Teachers were asked by their school district to complete a survey. The experiment was a 2×2 design (one of our faves): The result? A nothingburger. No difference in survey participation between A-D, randomly assigned groups. To quote Paul Harvey, “And now for the rest of the story.” Researchers noticed a difference in survey participation on […]
Your SmartPhone Makes You, More You
I hate my phone and love it. Check that; I love my phone and hate my kids’ phones. Check that; I love my phone and hate my kids’ phones except when I need to reach them but even then, I still kind of hate their phones because they insist on texting with initials and shorthand […]
If No One Came to Work Could the Movement Run Itself?
This tongue-in-cheek headline raises the question of just how effective progressive advocacy and social change organizations can be when a good part of their staff energy is focused on battling each other rather than advancing the group’s mission at this critical moment in history. This is particularly true when it comes to reproductive rights organizations […]
A Message Built of Concrete
Should your fundraising message be concrete and specific or abstract? Most would probably say the former and most would be correct. The better question is why? Why does being more concrete and specific with messaging versus generic and abstract work better? It isn’t enough that the answer to the first question (concrete or abstract?) seems clear […]
Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore
July 4th, the day to celebrate and remember what America’s all about. On this fraught-filled, future-fearing July 4th I sure as hell hope we’re all taking the remembering seriously. Because Agitator’s mission focuses on direct response fundraising, I’ll forego the usual patriotic platitudes. Instead for Independence Day 2022 I’m invoking the memory and wisdom of […]
Everything is Impacting Everything
From real estate to the stock market, to energy, to technology, to politics to fundraising the Pandemic/Supply Chain/Ukraine/Inflation Virus is wreaking havoc. This is certainly the case where direct response –both direct mail and digital—is concerned. Massive shortages of envelopes and paper with prices going up and availability still down. Significant production delays and bottlenecks. […]
What Makes You Tick? What Makes Other Fundraisers Tick?
Back in 2013 the landmark study, Underdeveloped: A National Study of The Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising, a joint project of CompassPoint and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund sounded the alarm about the development and fundraising profession. The study presciently warned that instability in the nonprofit sector would result in 50% of the development […]
Digital Donor Abuse
With another batch of primary elections behind us and more still ahead…with the future of Roe v. Wade and reproductive rights hanging in the balance…with heartbreaking scourge of mass shootings at schools and shopping centers…there’s barely time to ponder the ultimate fate of life as we know it either by pandemic, famine, flood, locusts, or […]