The Agitator

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

Mastering ‘retention’ requires hard work: research, organization-wide involvement across departments, and a willingness to swim against the conventional currents in the Sea of Sameness that is drowning our sector. charities Don''t Miss these Posts donor retention DonorVoice fundraising loyalty nonprofit management nonprofits premium'

Retention 86

Retention Nonprofit Management Management Fundraising 86

The Agitator

OCTOBER 14, 2013

Yesterday I complained … only ONE retention superstar had responded from our Agitator audience — Colorado Public Radio. Jonathon Grapsas at Flat Earth Direct in Australia has been working on retention amongst clients who do much of their donor acquisition via face-to-face solicitation. Average year.

Retention 76

Retention Recruitment Nonprofit Management Management 76

Top Nonprofits

JANUARY 2, 2024

The nonprofit sector is filled with shifting best practices, emerging technology solutions, and noteworthy trends. By investing in employee training opportunities, your nonprofit can equip its staff with the latest tips and tools for success. Improved employee retention. More professional connections. Reduced operational costs.

Participation and motivation 52

Participation and motivation Nonprofits Retention Management 52

Fundraising Coach

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

As a fundraiser, you’ve surely run into obstacles during fundraising campaigns before. Maybe you’re still a few hundred dollars away from your goal during your most important fundraiser of the year, but it feels like you’ve totally run out of donor opportunities. Text-to-give.

Participation and motivation 59

Participation and motivation Fundraising Fundraising Recruitment 59

The Agitator

AUGUST 26, 2013

Don''t Miss these Posts donor retention DonorVoice fundraising loyalty marketing metrics nonprofit management premium'

Retention 81

Retention Nonprofit Management Values Management 81

The Agitator

JUNE 16, 2016

Chapter 9 of my book, Retention Fundraising: the art and science of keeping your donors for life, focuses on ‘Barriers to Retention’ The top two barriers? Major gift officers look down on direct mail fundraisers and vice versa. The real killers? #1: 1: Silos and #2: False Attribution.

Retention 69

Retention Communication Fundraising Fundraising 69

The Agitator

APRIL 13, 2014

Debbi Barber at Grizzard, in a post last week titled One Simple Way to Improve Retention , hit the nail on the head. She recommended one improvement that would unfailingly yield higher lifetime value from any nonprofit’s donors. Debbi’s recommendation?

Retention 105

Retention Fundraising Fundraising Nonprofit Management 105

The Agitator

SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

The Agitator is gratified by this report from Fundraising Success indicating that retention mailings have grown by 16% from 2010 to 2011. As Ethan Boldt observes: “…fundraisers are putting more emphasis on keeping the donors they have on their rolls.” Check our postings under 'donor retention'.].

Retention 75

Retention Fundraising Fundraising Nonprofit Management 75

The Agitator

OCTOBER 17, 2013

Commenting on Tom’s Ingredients of Retention Success post, Mazarine Treyz of Wildwoman Fundraising poses the intriguing question of whether retention of donors may possibly be related to an organization’s ability to retain its professional fundraisers. Look, I am a fundraising. Mazarine asks …. ”

Fundraising 104

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofit Management 104

The Agitator

OCTOBER 23, 2012

No sooner had Tom reported the grim facts contained in the AFP’s 2012 Fundraising Effectiveness Report than we received news that should brighten many hearts. Overall donor attrition in 2010 was 59% — that is, 59% of 2009 donors did not give again to participating nonprofits in 2010. Last year new donor retention was only 27%!

Retention 102

Retention Management Activism Communication 102

The Agitator

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

On Valentine’s Day, it’s fitting that The Agitator focus on fundraising’s equivalent of the ‘going steady’ relationship — the sustaining, committed or monthly giving donor. Chuck Longfield, founder of Target Analytics and chief scientist at Blackbaud, is one of my favorite fundraising analysts and observers.

Fundraising 84

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofit Management 84

The Agitator

OCTOBER 1, 2013

Yesterday I asked you as a fundraiser to consider: Are you a valued guide to your donors, or simply a nuisance paparazzi? He forwarded a recent piece he’d written titled: How are you managing the Donor Journey? How are you managing the Donor Journey? That question elicited a message from Tony Elischer at THINK Consulting.

Fundraising 98

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofit Management 98

The Agitator

MAY 14, 2014

Building on Drayton Bird’s blog, Five shocking lessons from a lifetime in marketing , Jeff Brooks added some fundraising spin of his own with 5 things you wish you already knew. Jeff inspired me to think more specifically about basic marketing mistakes fundraisers make. Best practice’ is good enough. But I’m being.

Fundraising 86

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofit Management 86

Bloomerang

JANUARY 22, 2024

You might be inspired to bring your idea to life by starting a nonprofit. million registered nonprofits in the United States, making these charitable organizations a staple of modern society. However, any new nonprofit needs a strong foundation to thrive. Around 30% of nonprofits cease to exist within 10 years of their founding.

Public and Social Policy 80

Public and Social Policy Nonprofit governance and management Public and Nonprofit Management Charitable Organizations 80

The Agitator

APRIL 12, 2012

Tom’s post yesterday, Nonprofits and the Customer Experience not only warrants reading a second time, but I also feel compelled to pile on some more emphasis and detail because it goes right to the heart of retention and donor value. First off, most nonprofits actually have a donor service/call center, either in-house or outsourced.

Retention 90

Retention Production Values Activism 90

The Agitator

OCTOBER 4, 2015

Tom and I are always grateful for Comments by fellow Agitators and we weren’t disappointed to the remarks triggered by the post on the 2015 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Report. As Michael reports, “…I’ve been involved with the nonprofit sector for decades. On occasion, I’ve even been the one doing.

Fundraising 82

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofits 82

The Agitator

JANUARY 5, 2014

Yes, there are some ‘uncontrollables’ that will influence your fundraising success in 2014 — consumers’ confidence about their economic well-being, major breaking events/tragedies (political or natural), and of course the extent to which you laid proper groundwork (or failed to) in 2013.

Fundraising 79

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofit Management 79

The Agitator

JUNE 23, 2011

Back in April, we asked Agitator readers a simple question: What percentage of your nonprofit’s 1st time donors make a second gift? That’s not the first time The Agitator has focused on donor retention as a top priority. We fundraisers aren’t the only ones to give priority to retention. Not impressive.

Retention 77

Retention Management Marketing Marketing 77

The Agitator

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Action is the only answer On so many levels a key — perhaps the key — question is how do we slow or stop the hemorrhaging of talented fundraisers — particularly women — at a time of desperate and growing need. Fundraising has an immense retention problem not related to donors but to fundraisers themselves.

Fundraising 108

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofits 108

The Agitator

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Fundraisers face a similarly long-term financial problem, although there’s no December 31 st deadline. That’s why I urge you to read Steve McLaughlin’s post — Are We Approaching the Fundraising Cliff? We didn’t do so well this year because people gave to the presidential campaigns and less to nonprofits. Not an excuse.

Fundraising 104

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Leadership 104

The Agitator

APRIL 8, 2013

“What differentiates great fundraising from the average, good or poor?” ” These are the questions Professors Adrian Sargeant and Jen Shang set out to answer in a year-long study aptly titled: Great Fundraising. ‘Great Fundraising’ is defined not in absolute money terms but in terms of massive growth.

Fundraising 109

Fundraising Fundraising Culture Retention 109

The Agitator

OCTOBER 12, 2015

When it comes to holding on to donors most fundraisers, like fur-less hamsters, seem to treading their way to nowhere. As the Agitator noted last week in our post on the 2015 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Report , just as in past years the number of new donors gained is surpassed by the number of existing donors lost (100 too 103).

Fundraising 82

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofit Management 82

EveryAction

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

If you loved our 2018 Best Nonprofit Conferences Calendar get ready for our new, improved, and updated 2019 calendar! We've searched far and wide for the best and brightest nonprofit conferences from all around the country! We have everything from: Fundraising & Grants. Nonprofit Management. So don't wait!

Nonprofit governance and management 105

Nonprofit governance and management Public and Nonprofit Management Associations Finance 105

The Agitator

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

Increasing the lifetime value of a donor file by increasing retention rates seems like a ‘no brainer’ when it comes to improving an organization’s fundraising performance. Or does your nonprofit follow more the scenario described in this post from Analytical. See here and here.

Retention 95

Retention Nonprofit Management Values Management 95

The Agitator

JANUARY 27, 2015

At the start of the year Steve MacLaughlin, Blackbaud’s Director of Analytics, in his post 5 Things That Won’t Happen in 2015 hit on what I consider the biggest risk facing nonprofits these days — doing nothing. These days maintaining the status quo will ultimately kill your fundraising. Just one problem.

Retention 92

Retention Nonprofit Management Activism Management 92

The Agitator

MARCH 13, 2013

As much as Roger and I bemoan a lack of innovation today in fundraising, without question there are plenty of ‘lessons learned’ that all fundraisers should seriously consider before launching into change for change sake. It’s a stimulating list, covering most aspects of fundraising. Or as Tom says: Retention.

Fundraising 109

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Finance 109

The Agitator

SEPTEMBER 28, 2010

Target Analytics has just released its Index of National Fundraising Performance for the 12 months of activity through the 2 nd Quarter of 2010. With essentially flat revenue and donor growth from the first half of 2009 through the first half of 2010, there are still some rays of sunshine in an otherwise pretty dreary fundraising sky.

Fundraising 89

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Healthcare 89

The Agitator

OCTOBER 25, 2015

Much of what we fundraisers practice and preach will eventually be shown to be wrong or out of date. Trends like the skyrocketing acquisition costs and plunging retention rates in the U.S. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, disturbing trends and startling events arise to speed up the re-evaluation and change process. and elsewhere.

Fundraising 91

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Nonprofit Management 91

The Agitator

JANUARY 12, 2014

— donor retention. Seems to me there is significant similarity between the management mindset of some of the Big Box stores and burger chains and many nonprofits. Don''t Miss these Posts donor retention fundraising marketing metrics nonprofit management research premium' Let me explain.

Public and Nonprofit Management 92

Public and Nonprofit Management Retail Retention Nonprofit Management 92

The Agitator

JANUARY 16, 2018

This will quickly give you the vital fundraising metrics of your own organization. That dashboard rightly highlights what I’d argue is the most “K” of fundraising KPIs: donor lifetime value. What is the likelihood that they will give gift #2 from now (and three and four and five) – that is, what is their retention rate?

Retention 55

Retention Fundraising Fundraising Values 55

The Agitator

JUNE 8, 2014

There’s a big difference as UK fundraiser Ken Burnett sees it. Awhile back, as part of a series Proud to be a fundraiser , Ken wrote Keeping the right fundraisers. Don''t Miss these Posts donor retention fundraising loyalty nonprofit management premium'

Retention 93

Retention Nonprofit Management Management Fundraising 93

The Agitator

AUGUST 31, 2014

Up until then our tireless Agitator editors were happily and busily white boarding the steps that fortunate organization might take to ensure the best retention possible from this massive burst of flash philanthropy. Fundraising philosophy/profession Nonprofit management premium'

Retention 105

Retention Philanthropy Associations Nonprofit Management 105

MNA Association

JANUARY 22, 2024

We also value our team and would like them to stick around (aka employee retention). I know nonprofit budgets are tight and that most of our team members are underpaid for the incredible work that they do. The post Navigating the Pay Maze: MNA’s Experience with Compensation Equity first appeared on Montana Nonprofit Association.

Race and Ethnicity 52

Race and Ethnicity Associations Values Culture 52

The Agitator

OCTOBER 8, 2013

Once again … the nonprofit world has painfully proven Aldous Huxley’s maxim that “facts do not cease to exist simply because they are ignored.” Once again … for the 7th year in a row the Donor Retention Rate among 2,840 American nonprofits surveyed has again dropped.

Retention 82

Retention Nonprofit Management Management Marketing 82

The Agitator

JANUARY 15, 2018

As we kick off this Agitator series on Fundraising Metrics I’m going to invoke Brandy because her song Pray to Jesus reflects the approach to decision making by all too many fundraisers unfamiliar with simple metrics, simple calculations. Consequently, we’ve prepared this Agitator series on Fundraising Metrics. .

Fundraising 53

Fundraising Fundraising Retention Health 53

The Agitator

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Donor acquisition Donor retention / loyalty / commitment Fundraising analytics / data Fundraising philosophy/profession Nonprofit management premium' Here’s a summary of all 10 Barriers along with a link for those particular barriers in which you’re most interested.

Retention 85

Retention Nonprofit Management Management Fundraising 85

The Agitator

JANUARY 4, 2017

Irish fundraiser Simon Scriver produces a near-constant flow of bits and pieces on his Twitter feed (@ToastFundraiser). Some relate to fundraising, some to charity doings and some simply to the hilarity of the human condition. In Nonprofit Land money is clearly a form of.

Retention 60

Retention Fundraising Fundraising Nonprofits 60