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Want your supporters to pay more attention to deadlines? Use one of these email subject lines: a race to the finish. across the finish line. almost over. are you in? are you missing out? can we count on you? can you make it by midnight. can’t be short. can’t wait. coming up short. days left. deadline. did you forget? did you miss this? don’t forget. don’t miss. ending soon. ends today. ends tonight. falling short. final call. final chance. final day(s). final reminder. help us finish strong. hou
Today on CauseTalk Radio , Megan and I talk to Kim Van Syoc , Executive Director at the Banfield Foundation , about the organization's successes and challenges in the first year of operation. The Banfield Foundation was founded in 2015 by Banfield Pet Hospital (BPH) , which operates more than 950 pet clinics, mostly located in PetSmart stores across the country.
Have you been to a party and ended up stuck in a conversation with someone who talks too much about herself or brags about all the wonderful things he’s done? You roll your eyes in frustration and plan your escape to the drinks table. Imagine your donors having the same reaction when all your communications sound like one big bragfest that have nothing to do with them.
It is clear social media marketing is delivering real and measurable business value for companies large and small today. Marketers of all specialties from digital, content, strategy and even operations know they must not only learn, but also deeply embrace social media as a way to connect, inspire and serve their new online audiences as well as current, prospective and future customers.
Speaker: Lee Andrews, Founder at LJA New Media & Tony Karrer, Founder and CTO at Aggregage
This session will walk you through how one CEO used generative AI, workflow automation, and sales personalization to transform an entire security company—then built the Zero to Strategy framework that other mid-market leaders are now using to unlock 3.5x ROI. As a business executive, you’ll learn how to assess AI opportunities in your business, drive adoption across teams, and overcome internal resource constraints—without hiring a single data scientist.
A creative brief is a quick worksheet that you fill out before you get started on any significant piece of communications work. You can also use a creative brief as a mini-strategy for how you’ll use a particular social media channel (e.g. how is what we do on Facebook different from Twitter?). Using a creative brief forces you to consider important questions before you get started.
There’s no question that if organizations are to thrive in a future marked by fast-moving change a substantial transformation in mindset, methods and metrics is essential. Over and over The Agitator has attempted to deal with why these changes are essential. A sampling our thoughts on Mindset here. Methods here and here. And Metrics here , here and here.
Nonprofit giving in America has been stuck at 2% of GDP for 45 years. What is causing this? Is it the tax code? Are we just hardwired to give 2%? How can we move the needle? “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.” – W.L Bateman. The Chasm. One of the biggest problems that will keep the current state of giving at 2% is the lack of innovation: the failure to adapt to technology and changing donor expectations within the nonprofit space.
Nonprofit giving in America has been stuck at 2% of GDP for 45 years. What is causing this? Is it the tax code? Are we just hardwired to give 2%? How can we move the needle? “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.” – W.L Bateman. The Chasm. One of the biggest problems that will keep the current state of giving at 2% is the lack of innovation: the failure to adapt to technology and changing donor expectations within the nonprofit space.
Thought leadership is important for any person and brand wanting to establish themselves as a leader in a particular industry, niche, specific topic, trade or practice. Thought leadership is beneficial for both brands and humans. For brands it can help increase brand equity, brand affinity, grow community and establish brand leadership. It can even help generate leads, speed up the sales cycle and increase sales.
What time is it? Mixed Links time! Join me, as we take a look at some good stuff from around the web on nonprofit communications and more… John Haydon talks about Features Versus Benefits in nonprofit communications. If you are in the market for volunteer management software, VolunteerPro is hosting a FREE Online Volunteer Management Software Expo Wednesday on October 26th.
I can’t even remember the last time I read a decent article on telefundraising. Can you? If so, please pass along the link! So I’m thrilled with this excellent piece by Colin Bickley — Can Telefundraising Survive the Cellphone Age? — published in NonProfitPRO. Colin is properly balanced in his analysis, covering the growing hurdles that telefundraising faces — chiefly, cellphones, compliance issues, and changing consumer attitudes associated with intrusive communica
Recently one of our clients, the executive director of a large membership organization, asked an important question: How do I conduct video conference calls from my home-office in a way that will reflect the brand of our organization and the authority of my position? This is a question most of us will face at one […]. The post How to Maintain Your Brand in a Video Conference Call appeared first on Mission Minded.
Speaker: Gareth Webb & Phil Selley, Founding Partners at Intouch Business
For many nonprofit organizations and NGOs, managing grants and monitoring projects with spreadsheets and manual processes feels familiar—but is it holding your organization back? As funding requirements become more complex and stakeholder expectations for transparency grow, relying on outdated methods can lead to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and compliance risks.
Register Now: Thursday, October 6 at 1pm EDT. Join me to learn how to turn your board, staff, and loyal volunteers into a team of passionate and engaging messengers. They’ll develop confidence and skills while you’ll get more of the donations and donor loyalty you seek—without additional budget or hires. Bonus: They’ll connect your organization with their personal networks—many of whom you’d never reach otherwise.
Sarah Tarnopolsky. Here’s the latest installment in our series on the “Day in the Life” of nonprofit communicators, where we ask you to describe your day in your own words. Share your day with us! Don’t be shy – tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro. . Sarah Tarnopolsky is a Donor Relations Communications Officer at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia, Canada.
I had just read Tom’s Telefundraising Reveals The Pulse containing Colin Bickley’s terrific analysis of the state of telefundraising, and some very helpful comments from Agitator readers, when up popped this headline in my news feed: Stanford Hangs Up on Telemarketing—Will Others Follow? In a Chronicle of Philanthropy piece, writer Timothy Sandoval reports on Stanford University’s decision to abandon its annual giving phone-athon employing student callers.
In this section, we chat about the shift in employees across the board—nonprofit or otherwise—becoming millennials. How do you engage millennials for the future of your staff? Marc advises you to just wait and see. Older generations are moving up and out every day and millennials are naturally filling the newly open spots. Nonprofits must improve their internal communications and nonprofit management to stay ahead of the trends.
Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.
They’ll talk about it at conferences. You’ll read about it in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Online discussion groups will say it’s the key to marketing success! Everyone talks about segmenting emails — sending the right message to the right person at the right time. Sounds good. But the truth is that hardly anyone really ever does it.
Cindy Olnick. If you are curious about how other nonprofits handle branding and graphic design, join us Thursday, October 20th for our latest Nonprofit Q&A Panel. Today’s guest post is by one of the panelists, Cindy Olnick. ~Kristina. Guest Post by Cindy Olnick of the Los Angeles Conservancy. After thirty-five years, the Los Angeles Conservancy got its first graphic identity system in 2013.
My only question this morning: “Is all this really happening?” First, my inbox and social media was bombarded with news that somewhere between 3:20 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. Friday a 70 year-old man with 5 children went ape s**t on Twitter, slut-shaming Miss Universe of 1996. Next, my inbox bell rings with news that the Charities Oversight Project at Columbia Law School and the Center on Nonprofits Philanthropy at the Urban Institute has just published “the first systematic analysis of state-level ov
Several weeks ago I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Kirsten Bullock for her Nonprofit Leaders Network podcast. The conversation turned quickly to my experiences over the years as an Interim Executive Director. Whether your organization is thinking of using an Interim ED, or whether you are a consultant thinking of getting into this sort of work, I hope you will find some advice in this conversation that will help you navigate the relationship successfully.
Traditional budgeting and forecasting methods can no longer keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving business environment. Static budgets, rigid annual forecasts, and outdated financial models limit an organization’s ability to adapt to market shifts and economic uncertainty. To stay ahead, finance leaders must leverage a future-forward approach—one that leverages real-time data, predictive analytics, and continuous planning to drive smarter financial decisions.
I’m always surprised when I click on a major gift or planned gift fundraiser’s LinkedIn profile and see that they only have 30, 50 or 100 connections. How can that be possible? Assuming they work for an organization that has a committed donor base and assuming that they have determined who their prospects are… they simply must have more donor relationships than that!
"Be Your Donor Day." Have you heard of it? It's not a traditional holiday and it gets little fanfare. However, this simple concept has big implications for your nonprofit. Think of "Be Your Donor Day" as a time to measure your donors' giving experience. From testing your donation system to tracking your back office process, you want to make sure every donor's experience is a great one.
A few months ago you might have noticed that, in the US, Millennials (ages 18-34) now outnumber Boomers (ages 51-69) — 75.4 million Millennials to 74.9 million Boomers. Here’s Pew Research on the shift. And of course the tide will steadily build as old buggers like me die off. Without question, a key reason the Boomer generation had so much cultural impact (and some political) in the 60s and 70s was its sheer numbers relative to the rest of the population.
If you know me and this blog, you know that I talk about the Pareto Principle a lot. That’s the concept developed by Vilfredo Pareto in 1906 when he determined that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the people. He later found that 80% of the peas in his garden came from just 20% of his pea plants. I bring this up so often because, if you are like most, 80% of your organization’s revenue comes from just 20% of your supporters.
Speaker: Tim Sarrantonio, Director of Corporate Brand
Do you really know your donors? Not just what they give, but who they are? 👥 In this interactive session, we’ll break down how nonprofits can use behavioral indicators (affinity, recency, frequency, and monetary value) to build prospecting segments that go beyond wealth screening and actually align with donor identity. You’ll walk away with practical strategies to move beyond basic demographics and cultivate supporters based on how they already engage with you!
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