The Agitator

Here in the United States today we celebrate our annual blessings and give thanks. The Canadians got the jump on us a month ago. And we’re celebrating not a moment too soon. With jobs shrinking, money and savings drying up, and with global economic horrors rising, it’s frankly a ...  Read more

If you’re not spendng most of the Thanksgiving holiday traveling, here’s some food for thought over your quiet moments. Something to worry about longer term than making your 2008 fundraising targets! Pew Research has released its detailed analysis of voters under age-30, based on exit ...  Read more

Last Friday, The Agitator hosted over 70 nonprofit fundraisers in a "tele-briefing" on "Fundraising in Tough Times." We reviewed fundraisers’ responses to our recent Vital Signs surveys (results here and here) and offered our advice on how to cope. Attesting to the level ...  Read more

WEEK OF NOVEMBER 17th. On down days Grandma Craver attempted to brighten life with the reminder. “Cheer up, Roger. Things could be worse.” Well, this week they got worse, at least where the economy and fundraising is concerned. The warning bells of impending fundraising doom are ...  Read more

We have now completed two cycles of our Fundraising Vital Signs surveys, in which we ask readers of The Agitator to share their prognostications regarding the fundraising outlook for the balance of 2008 (see Survey 1 results here). Our overall response profile remains the same: three-of-four ...  Read more

Here from Dave Dutch of web consulting and software firm Vignette, via Mediapost, is the most gushing vision I’ve seen lately of the role of online video in a corporate setting. He refers to the "video-centric enterprise." But think about the applications for your ...  Read more

As told by Ad Age, here is a fascinating account of the brouhaha over a recent — now deceased — advertising campaign for Motrin, the painkiller. It’s left some executives at Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit consuming a lot of their own medicine! The ...  Read more

Just when you need to send one critical email before you dash off, or are at the juiciest part of the conversation … Your internet service disappears, or your computer freezes (or worse, does that never-ending hourglass or spinning wheel thing), or your cellphone fails. According to this ...  Read more

Free: Sign up here for first Agitator Editors Telebriefing, Fundraising in Troubled Times, this Friday, November 21, 2 pm eastern. Details in postscript.     Today The Agitator releases the second in its new series of DonorTrends White Papers. These papers are available to subscribers ...  Read more

Week-In Review:   The dismal drone of economic downturn continued unabated as stock markets dipped, retailers forecast a bleak holiday season, Ad Age reported that online consumer spending is also slowing, and representatives of the G-20 convened an emergency economic summit in Washington ...  Read more