You can take the quiz here.

Of  greater significance, Pew has just released a survey looking at attitudes of the public toward scientists, and vice versa.

Scientists enjoy high status amongst the American public … 70% say scientists have contributed "a lot" to society’s well-being. Only members of the military at 84% and teachers at 77% outrank them.

Many nonprofits  base their fundraising case on the scenarios, views and claims of scientists … global warming has been a "hot" one lately. So it is gratifying to see that such high standing exists. Which isn’t to say that scientists and the public share the same beliefs, as the following table indicates …

Some scary ones there!

Tom

Well, if "involvement" is key, once again the Obama organization has shown its brilliance.

Take a look at the email I received Sunday evening in preparation for Tuesday’s Inauguration. Talk about involvement and continuity. In this message to Obama campaign donors, the former campaign director is now exhorting “Obama Campaign” supporters to continue to be part of the “Obama Community” – this time to help renew America. This time through a new organization named USASERVICE.ORG

Of course I’m not suggesting the top woman/man in your organization is about to get the attention of a Presidential Inaugural, but I am saying that being on top of new events, new opportunities, and urging your donors/members to lead the way is one of the best steps you can take to build loyalty and involvement.

Please share with Tom and me any experiences you’ve had on seizing such opportunity.

Roger

P.S. I know, regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, or in which country you’re reading this, you join us in wishing President Obama well. Here’s to the future!

Fine, spend 90% of your efforts on paying the rent. But unless your nonprofit is prepared to hang a "No Hispanics Wanted Here" sign on its front door, you better be devoting some mind share to this surging constituency.

Notice I said "mind share." Maybe 2009 is in fact a year to spend money against "tried and true" fundraising programs. But that doesn’t mean you need to turn your brain off.

For example, you might devote a few minutes a week in the coming year to browsing MediaPost’s blog focused on marketing to Hispanics … Engage: Hispanics. Fittingly, the last post I saw was from a Hispanic interactive agency guy urging his colleagues to resolve to get their act together for 2009, especially with respect to digital media.

Instead of spending your holidays wallowing in dismal economic news — you’ve probably done enough of that — try thinking a bit about new worlds to explore!

Tom

With jobs shrinking, money and savings drying up, and with global economic horrors rising, it’s frankly a relief to have a moment to put all the worries in perspective and reflect on what we truly have. We have jobs, more than enough to eat, roofs over our heads. And while the doomsday headlines are troubling and shouldn’t be ignored, here at The Agitator we haven’t heard of any fundraisers who’ve had to change the route they drive to work or the life to which they’ve become accustomed.

Equally as commendable is that we haven’t come across a single fundraiser who’s ignoring the signs around her or him. That’s terrific, because many of us work in jobs where we can directly help the many who are suffering painfully from this economic turndown … and the millions more who are likely to be even more affected. Here in the States alone the number of people living below the federal poverty level will jump by millions — some estimates say 10 million or more. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington-based group, estimates that rising unemployment rates could see the number of poor in America reach 50 million. And just think how those numbers geometrically increase around the globe.

The good news is that, when it comes to helping each other, the human soul shines in times like these. Many agencies that help the neediest are reporting that giving is on an uptick. May that continue and increase. We fundraisers are blessed in times like these. Regardless of our day jobs we possess the skills and understanding to offer our help on a voluntary basis where in our communities it is most needed.

So today, while we put the ‘thanks’ in ‘Thanksgiving’, it’s also important to put the ‘giving’ there too. Each of us needs to do our part to help those who are suffering.

Counting our blessings,

Roger and Tom

The UN Foundation and the Vodaphone Foundation have partnered to develop and introduce software that enables health workers in sub-Saharan Africa to collect and utilize medical information in real-time in the field. In the next year the technology will spread into 22 African countries in support of programs ranging from immunization campaigns to disaster relief.The open source application is called EpiSurveyor and was developed by nonprofit DataDyne.org, and the program is called mHealth, or mobile health.

According to the UN Foundation release:"EpiSurveyor allows health workers in urban as well as rural areas to easily collect, manage and share clean and timely program monitoring data,” said Dr. Balcha Girma Masresha, medical officer in the Immunization Program in the African Region of the WHO. “The introduction of this technology is enabling health workers to better understand and identify the strengths and shortcomings of their programs, so that they can actively work toward continuous improvement.

”You don’t think this kind of thing has political applications? Today’s door-to-door election campaign canvassers use this kind of technology to target and inform — and instantly report the results of — their door-knocking. Somehow I’d rather see it being used to fight malaria!

Tom

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: Democratic politicians receive a 40% increase in contributions in the 30 day period following their appearances on the comedy cable show The Colbert Report.

The analysis was done by political scientist James H. Fowler of the University of California at San Diego and an avowed Colbert fan.

What’s the “Colbert Bump” worth? Democrats who come on the program raise $8,247 more than their same-party colleagues who don’t – a bump of 40% over the normal rate of receipts according to Prof. Fowler.

And, probably in the interest of bi-partisanship, the good professor notes that Republicans don’t appear to benefit at all by appearing on The Colbert Report. In fact, they raise more money in the month before coming on the program and less money in the month following their appearance – a possible “Colbert Bust.”

Mercifully, Fowler notes it is “important not to read too much into these results” (really?), but does conclude that due to the “elite demographic of the program’s audience" (about 1.2 million viewers) The Colbert Report appears to exercise "disproportionate real world influence.”

Does this “disproportionate real world influence” translate into election victories also? We’ll have to wait for the outcome of the 2008 races to see.

My breath is bated.

Roger

Among the panelists was Kristi Vandenbosch head of Tequila, the global marketing services network, who put together a video reel to emphasize the dramatic change in politics. Her message and the message of the video is that social media and user-generated content have fundamentally changed the political landscape. Where once the ‘brand" (read ‘candidate’) was controlled by campaigns, control has now shifted to the "consumer" (read ‘voter’).

Ms. Vandenbosch told Ad Age, "The pieces I collected in the video were examples from an informal poll I conducted asking people under 35 where they got their election information. Rather than traditional news outlets, they provided these as samples. They were more likely to trust commentary –even satirical commentary –from their peers than either news or — especially — the candidates’ advertising." I’m not sure the reason for the shift is that clear or simple, but judge for yourself.

You can watch the Ad Age video by clicking here.

Roger

But here’s some equal time for seniors, who are typically online 44 minutes a day.

From a report prepared by Focalyst and Dynamic Logic, here’s a profile of what seniors age 62+ are doing online these days:

• Search engines: 59 percent
• Contact family and friends: 59 percent

• Gather information: 47 percent
• News/current events/weather: 43 percent
• Travel planning/reservations: 41 percent

• Health and health-related information: 38 percent
• Exchange photos with family/friends: 33 percent

• Finance/online banking: 24 percent
• Paying bills: 23 percent
• Single/multiple-player games: 21 percent
• Investment/transactions: 17 percent
• Education/training: 13 percent

Note that financial stuff hangs around one-in-four senior netizens. If they’re not doing online banking or paying bills online, they’re not likely to be making online donations either.

But still, nearly half gather information online, and more than four-in-ten follow news and current events online … important from a cause fundraising standpoint … trust me, if they have a online subscription to the NY Times, they’re donors!

Tom

Of course in the online fundraising culture, new rules apply. [How we direct marketers ever let that happen, I don't know!]

So, we have to build our own e-lists. Permission marketing. What a pain!

Ironically, despite the fact that permission marketing is the rule of the road for online marketing, whereas the direct mail list market is alive and well, donors still report being far more comfortable receiving an un-solicited direct mail pitch than an email solicitation.

According to The Agitator’s latest DonorTrends survey, 15% of donors are very uncomfortable receiving a fundraising request by mail, versus 53% by email. True, the email discomfort drops to 19% if the email comes from "someone you know." But that raises the interesting philosophical question: Do you really know Paul Newman more than ________ (fill in your exec director’s name) in their emailing personas?!

A virtual invasion of privacy is regarded as far more dastardly than a hard copy one, even though both are "deleted" equally easily. With spam filters these days, do you still get more unwanted email than snail mail?

Of course, some of us try to take short cuts and even try trick our prospects into parting with their email addresses. Here’s a humorous take on the matter.

Tom

Roger & Tom