Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Direct marketing guru Denny Hatch was so enthralled with The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande that he updated his own direct marketer’s checklist. Denny’s checklist is 58 items long, so it’s pretty comprehensive. For example, here’s #2: Does your copy contain some or all ... Read more
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Last week, I received an email fundraising pitch from Grist, the environmental e-magazine … A Beacon In The Smog. I thought it was very well put together … 1. It used video (you know I like that!). 2. It’s style and tone was totally consistent with the Grist brand — ... Read more
Friday, September 4th, 2009
I’ve been thinking about this video ad from Medicins Sans Frontieres, which has stirred up quite a bit of controversy on the Chronicle’s Give & Take blog and elsewhere. Here are my observations. First, a piece of advertising needs to be assessed against its objectives. If the ... Read more
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
Given that The Agitator often encourages fundraisers to experiment with online video, we’re pleased to help bring your attention to this fundraising video competition. It’s sponsored by Resource Alliance, who stages the International Fundraising Congress (IFC). Traditionally the ... Read more
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Illustrating the point we made yesterday about the impact of increased broadband (i.e., high speed) internet access, comScore has released the latest monthly figures (April ‘09) re online video viewing. Key points: An impressive 79% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online ... Read more
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
October 29th should be the biggest online fundraising night in history … at least in political history.As reported here, Barack Obama has bought thirty-minute program blocks at 8pm that night on CBS and NBC, and is in negotiations with ABC and Fox to make it a true ... Read more
Saturday, October 4th, 2008
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
Monday, September 29th, 2008
Historically, the most consistently successful nonprofit fundraisers using DRTV have been the child sponsor agencies — Save the Children, Worldvision, Christian Children’s Fund, etc.* Their campaigns effectively married strong emotional visuals and case statements with the sound ROI ... Read more
Friday, August 1st, 2008
Here’s some data re online video used by BrightRoll, the internet’s biggest online advertising network. 1. Video is Bigger Than Search: 12 billion videos are watched per month vs. 10.5 billion searches conducted. 2. Video Consumption is Quickly Moving Online: 19% of total video ... Read more
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
The maxim very successful fundraisers live by was set forth by George Bernard Shaw 80 years ago: "The mediocre borrow, genius steals." In short, when you see a winning concept, campaign, technique, whatever, just steal it. Adapt it. Run with it. Which brings me to today’s ... Read more
