Crowdfunding is a powerful tool for non-profit organizations. After running several successful crowd fundraising campaigns, it is my believe that every non-profit, no matter how small or large, can and should run at least one Read more…
So what’s the problem? Income – expenditure = profit. This is one of the fundamentals for anyone in business. However, when these same business people come into a charity’s trustees meeting, profit, or net income Read more…
‘…they called me back two hours after we presented, to say not only did they really want to work with us, but they had even decided to cancel the final stage of their own process, Read more…
A devastating earthquake hits Nepal. Many people are killed, and tens of thousands are without shelter, clean water and food. International organisations from nation states, UN and NGOs respond fast. People all over the world Read more…
Why we should all adopt the retiring Giles Pegram CBE* as our role model. The police officer was puzzled. The women driver appeared to be quite annoyed about the fact that he’d pulled her over. Read more…
Having trouble framing the right case for support for specific donors? Do all your proposals address roughly the same issues? Are all your proposals aimed at roughly the same target group? Are you looking to Read more…
(And they’re all about your audience) There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tactics we can apply to get better fundraising results. But what are the big things that make the really big differences? 1. You’re Read more…
You probably remember it much as I do: the white wristbands, the star-studded Live8 concert, the remarkable celebrity ‘finger click’ ads, Blair and Brown and the G8 summit engaged and involved. And all of it Read more…
The sense I get is that many fundraisers think “Stories oh yeh – they’re important but not critical”. It’s seen as a nice to have. “What we need for our fundraising campaign is a catchy Read more…
South Africa. A beautiful, complicated country that’s only recently emerged from a very difficult past. In terms of fundraising, it’s considered an emerging market. From the story and webinar below, I hope fundraisers around the Read more…
“Hi, I am fundraiser and I’m addicted to acquisition.” Dear fundraiser, let’s start our day by admitting our addiction. We’re all obsessed with the idea of “new”: our new fundraising campaign, testing crowd-funding, creating best Read more…
Every year a collection of new or recycled buzzwords arrive on the fundraising circuit. Last year they were ‘behavioural economics’, ‘neuroscience’, ‘nudging’ and ‘decision science’. All the conference sessions with these words in the title Read more…
Answer: None of them started with fundraisers! Fundraisers here at IFC and all over the sector are raving about the spontaneous phenomena of the ‘No make-up selfie’ and the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’. But in our Read more…
When the International Fundraising Conference opens on Wednesday in the Netherlands it will not only benefit attendees, it will send a signal on the power and importance of “curiosity.” Folks spend a lot of money, Read more…
Almost 10 years ago Roger Craver gave me the book Moneyball from Michael Lewis. I was excited, because I have played ball since I was a kid. I love baseball. The book is about the Read more…
It started for me with direct mail. See, today, my clients do not segment for gender. They send the very same appeal letter to men and women. But, you have to wonder, could we attract Read more…
It all boils down to “the ask”, doesn’t it? All the phone calls, lunches, meetings, tours, events, trips; all that cultivation, it’s all fun and games until the ask.
People give money because they care about the cause, because they feel a duty to give, because they want to make a difference, but the most important reason people give is because they are asked. (more…)
Light Bulb by Adreine from The Noun Project
The hunt is always on for the next big thing in fundraising. The thirst for innovation, for that neat, new way to attract donors and supporters that no one has conjured before, is in so many ways the holy grail of fundraising today. Who will finally ‘crack’ digital? What will it take to make legacy fundraising reach its true, vast potential? What form of face-to-face might one day prove truly sustainable without being truly exasperating? Valid or otherwise, these questions get asked in charities and agencies across the globe. (more…)
I used to jokingly tell people I was a professional “reacher-outer.” My day-to-day was just a fire hose of prospect outreach. But so often, I wouldn’t hear anything back. Nothing. So, I’d follow-up. Then I’d circle back, check in, touch base, ping, ping some more, and leave another message. And chase it with one last follow-up email. (more…)
It’s the dream of any fundraiser: something just magically raises millions in a few days. Like Nomakeupselfie in the UK, and the cold water challenge that suddenly swept Norway. Literally millions suddenly flowed to unsuspecting Read more…
You might love it. You might hate it. But if you respect your donors and your work as a fundraiser you are likely to spend a few hours per week looking at reports. Those reports Read more…
So you’re looking for a job, and you think you’ve found the perfect opportunity; a fundraising position for an NGO whose mission you believe in. What could be better! You apply, and you’re granted an interview. Read more…
David Ogilvy, a pioneer of advertising once wrote that in the ancient world… ‘When Aeschines spoke, they said, ‘How well he speaks.’ But when Demosthenes spoke, they said, ‘Let us march against Philip’’. When you Read more…
What’s the factor that will have more impact on the success of your fundraising campaigns than anything else? You’d be forgiven for thinking its your charity’s brand, because you’ll so often hear people citing an Read more…
Yeah, yeah, crowd-funding is the new big fundraising idea. Nothing new there. But I recently did something through Kickstarter. It got me thinking about why it is so exciting. It is simple, tangible, direct, involving Read more…
