The Agitator

Mark Rovner at Sea Change Strategies recently wrote that the "fundraising pyramid is a lie." He argues that most major donors are recruited into a nonprofit on a peer-to-peer basis, rather than being cultivated up the donor pyramid from initial small gifts. From my experience, I think ...  Read more

Here, from The FLA Group, is a superb paper on how to craft your fundraising case. I wish (for the sake of US readers) I had seen it before the Thanksgiving holiday. I would have insisted that you take it home and memorize it over your "off" days. The basic principles presented in ...  Read more

Yale economics professor Robert Shiller wrote an interesting column in the NY Times on Saturday. He talked about the 1930s roots of "recession" versus "depression" and the different mindsets associated with each. "Recessions" can be worked out and overcome … ...  Read more

This is our third and last report on The Agitator’s 2010 Fundraising Plans survey. In our previous two reports (here and here), we’ve described fundraisers’ mood as "creeping optimism," with 51% of our respondents expecting to raise more money in 2010, placing their ...  Read more

Yesterday, in our first report on The Agitator’s 2010 Fundraising Plans survey, we commented on the general mood of nonprofit fundraisers as they looked ahead to next year. Our assessment … creeping optimism. We noted that most fundraisers were expecting improvement in new donor ...  Read more

Today we’re giving the first of three topline reports on our just-concluded survey on nonprofit fundraisers’ 2010 fundraising plans. More tomorrow and Friday. Thanks to the 235 fundraisers who participated. We’ll start with the general mood and expectations. We asked a broad ...  Read more

If you won’t listen to me or Roger on the value of knowing — really knowing — and cultivating relationships with your best donors, then listen to marketing maven Seth Godin. Seth is talking about customers generally, but we know he’d say the same of donors. Writing a post ...  Read more

A couple of days ago Tom relayed Ken Burnett’s view of what donors and fundraising will be like ten years from now. In brief, technology will put donors more in control of the channels through which we communicate with them…donors will seek greater accountability, transparency and ...  Read more

Handwritten letters … what a concept! I enjoyed this article by Max Kalehoff writing in — of all places — Online Spin! Says Max: "… the growing volume of communications in digital form also drives attention deficit, dehumanization and diminishing returns. It’s ...  Read more

Yesterday, with his Scrooge hat on, Tom offered his opinion and advice on how to approach the question of fitting social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) into the fundraising mix. Tom justified his parsimonious approach to investing in social media on the grounds that the “fundraising ...  Read more