communication
Fundraising Lessons from a Con-Man
What’s the difference between a fundraiser and a con-man? There could be a joke there, but I think I’d be asking for trouble, and anyway, I can’t think of a funny punch line. It’s a Read more…
communication
Relationship Fundraising 2.0 – Or: Scenes from a kitchen table…
Morning in Oslo, Norway. My favorite part of the day is in the morning at my kitchen table, when I read the papers and tune in. Of course, I can’t resist checking social media. Here’s Read more…
acquisition
Interviewing for a job? Here are the top 5 questions that you should be asking
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…
acquisition
What I learned from Coutts Private Bank
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…
acquisition
Are you in danger of becoming a robot fundraiser?
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…
communication
Facing our deepest, darkest dread
Fundraising and the purgatory that is public speaking. Particularly when it goes wrong. This feature is somewhat longer than most, though as you’ll see, there is a reason. All this happened a few years ago, Read more…
communication
Are communications departments the enemy of fundraisers?
Call me stupid, dear friends, call me stupid but I despair of some big charities. I am about to call communication departments of some large charities stupid and I think for very good reasons. PLEASE Read more…
communication
Branding: The next and final frontier
The New Lexicon of Fundraising Part 8 “Love is friendship caught on fire.” Northern Exposure One of the core lessons of leadership and management is that people can only take so much change. So, on Read more…
acquisition
Are you ignoring those who love you most?
It’s pretty much impossible to be a fundraiser these days and not be thinking an awful lot about retention. As a sector, we’re losing more donors than we’re bringing in, and it’s getting scary to Read more…
communication
We are animals: the case for empathy
When on holiday recently in Iceland on a remote, deserted road I saw two sheep being hit by a truck. I stared aghast as one twitched and quivered in its death throes, paralysed on its Read more…
communication
The hype over ‘donor journeys’
‘Donor (or supporter) journeys’ is all the buzz in the nonprofit world, with prominent thinkers peddling the virtues of mapping out the donor experience. But as a fundraiser actually working on the front-line of income generation in a difficult financial climate, I’d like to add a critical voice to the discussion. (more…)
communication
Hiring good fundraisers: Do you look for the 000 factor?
I was speaking to a friend the other day – who used to be a fundraiser and is now a top-notch, specialist recruitment consultant for fundraisers – about what we’d like to improve in fundraising. Read more…
acquisition
Giving in the name of…
Last week, a friend of mine queued for more than one hour to get me a surprising present: a soft drink! Since then, I’ve been thinking how this could be an inspiring idea for us Read more…
communication
The final straw – I quit
In my last blog I told you about my phone call to cancel my regular donation to a charity that I had supported for over 10 years. Jo the person I spoke to on the Read more…
communication
Lessons Learned From My Own Advice
I’ve had a hard time sitting down to write this. Not because it’s hard to write about, but because it’s been far too long since I’ve sat down to write! You see, I actually acted Read more…
acquisition
Updating Essential Frameworks for the Future
As the Institute of Fundraising, UK, celebrates thirty years of championing excellence in fundraising, I have created a new presentation with fresh thinking on what we have learnt in thirty years and which learning people Read more…
communication
How to Make Your Story Stand Out
Everyone in the sector is trying to tell their story. The power of storytelling was showcased earlier this month when 20 well known fundraisers shared tales that had inspired them at SOFII’s ‘I Wish I’d Thought of That’ (or, in my case, ‘I Wish I’d Gone to That’!)
But if everyone does it how’s yours going to stand out? (more…)
communication
Back to the future for BHAGs
In search of the perfect case for support and tagline for fundraising campaigns, I spoke to someone with a great deal of marketing expertise. He introduced me to the term ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goal’, or Read more…
acquisition
Time for your Fundraising Oddity
By the time you read this, Commander Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) and his rather handsome moustache will have been back on our blue planet for a good few days. I was one of millions charmed and moved Read more…
communication
4 Lessons in Engagement From a Shack in the Woods
The greatest job I ever had was working for the Wild Bird Care Centre in a small, log cabin in a forest just outside the capital city of Canada. I loved every minute of my Read more…
communication
I decided not to cancel – but for how long?
My last blog was a bit of a rant. It was a rant because I was really cross with a charity that I had supported for over 12 years that hadn’t been in touch with me to:
- thank me
- tell me how my support had made a difference
- ask me for a larger gift
- offer me opportunities to support in other ways
- or any single other piece of correspondence (more…)
communication
‘Habemus Papam’: how religious fundraisers get it right!
A post fully inspired by one of the major events of the last weeks. Just because this could influence you as a fundraiser: the newly elected Pope Francis is everywhere in the news. Why is Read more…
communication
The power of video storytelling
We all love watching a good video clip. In the last couple of years we’ve been captivated by the likes of charity:water, Kony, and now the zillion versions of the Harlem Shake. Lots of views, Read more…
communication
How to Set Up a Donor-Centered Ask
A good major gifts fundraiser knows that an ask centers on the 5 R’s: the right person asking the right prospect for the right project, at the right time for the right amount. But many Read more…
communication
3 storytelling lessons
Here is an analogy to fundraising from the Sanskrit scriptures that I have derived many lessons from. It is about Ganesha and his brother Kartikeya, who were tasked by their parents to go around the world three times. While Kartikeya set out on the task immediately, circumambulating the globe as instructed, Ganesha chose to walked around his parents, Shiva and Parvati, with great devotion three times.
When asked by his brother to explain his action, Ganesha replied, “you chose to go around ‘the world’, I did so around ‘my world’. Ganesha was pronounced the victor of this task by his parents. (more…)
