The Agitator

To every fad there is a season … churn, churn, churn! Marketing maven Seth Godin seems to think Twitter has a short shelf life, citing this report from Nielsen Online that the churn rate on the service is 60% … as in, six-in-ten Twitter users in a given month fail to return the ...  Read more

I just got around to seeing Slumdog Millionaire last weekend, and was left feeling pretty miserable about the lives of children in India. So I was pleased to receive this press release today from CAFAmerica, an organization that helps foundations and individuals direct their international ...  Read more

Two colleagues of mine, Ryann Miller and Caity Craver — both from DonorTrends and both a generation younger — recently shared with me this email exchange they had. The topic: TV "reality shows" based on giving away big sums of money. Perhaps you’ve seen these programs ...  Read more

The Agitator’s Week in Review. This was a week that began and ended with drama and suspense. In Washington, D.C. “The Bailout” which went down in flames on Monday rose from the ashes on Friday amidst a torrent of fear and loathing on Main Street. In between, in St. Louis, millions glued ...  Read more

MySpace, with 120 million users, has teamed up with PayPal to introduce a fundraising widget for individual and nonprofit members to use on their MySpace sites.They seem to be promoting it to celebrities to create some buzz.Here’s an example of the widget singer Hilary Duff is using to raise ...  Read more

I’d really like your feedback on this one. As you know, I’m a big fan of using online video to help deliver calls to action, including fundraising appeals. Most of what I’ve seen has a homespun or cinema verite’ look to it. But here’s something quite different ...  Read more

Rejoice! The world of Fundraising Esoteria is now much richer and I just couldn’t wait to share the joy! The most recent issue of PS: Political Science and Politics, a journal of the American Political Science Association carries great news for Democratic fundraisers and candidates:  ...  Read more

I might be late to the party, but I’m still blown away by the "Great Turtle Race," a multi-faceted campaign designed to draw attention to the plight of endangered leatherback turtles. Sponsored by Conservation International and a coalition of partner groups. Sponsoring companies ...  Read more

Of course not every nonprofit has access to a celebrity to help raise its profie … or fundraise. But if you do, should you jump at the chance? This article from the NY Times provides some excellent insights into the world of celebrity marketing. Does it work? You bet your Rihanna umbrella ...  Read more

I just read the results of a client's survey that, among other things, was seeking to identify the issues that respondents regard as “crucial to the well-being of the country.” Out of eighteen issues offered to a constituency that tilted “liberal” on social issues ...  Read more