The Agitator

What … Did you say telemarketing?!! Do fundraisers still do that? How rare it is to see someone promoting telemarketing for fundraising. Too bad. And here’s why, as Jose van Herpt of Canada’s FLA Group puts it: “Choosing not to use the phone because you just don’t like ...  Read more

I love Todd Cohen’s Philanthropy Journal. Excellent range of content. I’m a faithful reader. But I hate this March 26 headline: Fundraising out of sync with giving habits Todd’s story leads as follows: "Technology is changing the way people give, with different ...  Read more

Convio has produced this valuable white paper on generational giving patterns. It’s based on a 2010 survey of 1500 recent donors to nonprofits. The paper is framed around four segments — Matures, Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y. It’s chock full of data on how different generations give ...  Read more

Here’s a brief article from the McKinsey Quarterly on "behavioral economics" … or why people make certain spending decisions and how they approach them. Each of the four principles/examples given relates to how a product is presented or priced in a retail context: 1. Make a ...  Read more

The Chronicle of Fundraising is doing an excellent job of monitoring giving response to the Haiti disaster. Here is their report as of January 16: "So far, donors have contributed more than $150-million to major U.S. relief groups, a Chronicle tally finds. By comparison, such charities had ...  Read more

We’re departing from our pre-announced “schedule” today to express our own concern for the people of Haiti … and our gratitude to the millions of people — including, we suspect, our readers — who have responded to this disaster with financial aid. The initial ...  Read more

Yesterday, in light of Target Analytics’ report on the continuing decline in both donor acquisition and donor giving, I asked “Why do so many organizations persist in doing the same old, same old year after year hoping that results will suddenly improve?” At a time when every ...  Read more

Based on research conducted for them by Forrester Research, Convio estimates that online giving to nonprofits in the US will top $4 billion this holiday season (Nov 1-Dec 31 — up from $3.1 billion in 2008). The Convio study is full of other tidbits on how donors are using internet-based ...  Read more

I read an article that proffered various "new marketing realities" that marketers need to consider coming out of the recession (if and when!). Among the observations: "Customers are no longer buying on impulse. They don’t have the access to credit they used to have, and ...  Read more

Here is a terrific article from Beth Kanter on trends she sees taking shape in the nonprofit social media world. Now, I do not want you to read her article until AFTER you are sure you’ve crossed all the "t’s" and dotted all the "i’s" on your year-end direct ...  Read more