But claimed demise of fundraising stalwart is ‘greatly exaggerated’. The opening several weeks of 2010 have seen all sorts of opinions bandied about the blogosphere by the fundraising chattering classes. The focus of their concerns Read more…
Nothing sharpens your decision-making prowess quite like establishing a new fundraising operation, with the heart-thumping expectation of growing income quickly. Opportunities abound but how do you make the best of them? Anita de Ruijter outlines four scenarios. What would you do? Comments please! (more…)
Recently the Dutch Fundraising Institute announced the winner of the second annual Young Fundraising Talent contest. You can read the essay from last year’s winner here, and below a translation of the winning essay this year, by Paulien Boone.
This year’s theme was “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” and Paulien, with her entry, has won a trip to the AFP Conference in San Antonio, Texas. We wish her luck and lots of fun!
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That familiar and addictive icon popped up on my phone: new message alert. It’s from a friend I used to see nearly every day for years; when we were both students in Groningen and did everything together. We’ve been trying to connect for weeks and with no luck. We live 250 kilometers apart and don’t get to see each other so often these days. And with so much distance I don’t quite know how to begin a conversation and I default to the easy questions: “How are the kids?” and “Have you finished your thesis?” (more…)
When we asked Helen Upperton to fundraise for MSF Canada, we also offered her the support and guidance of our fundraising and communications teams. I figured the two-time bobsleigh Olympian and silver medalist could learn Read more…
Often we hear great quotes capturing the essence of the message. They are inspiring! They remind us of the important reasons why we work for charity and how we should do it, or how best Read more…
How many hours a week do you spend in meetings? Can you hold your hand up and say that for the majority of those precious hours ‘that was an excellent use of everyone’s time’? (more…)
The closing of a year is often a reflective time, and an article that recently appeared in my Twitter feed definitely inspired me to take a step back. The piece, entitled “How Many People Died Read more…
Charity: Water are amazing. They’ve funded about 10,000 water projects, providing clean water to about three and a half million people. They’re ambitious, they take risks. They share their successes and their failures. They’re transparent. Read more…
2013 was full of negative press about wasteful charities. Much as we refute the claim the fact is we are wasteful; just not of the things we are accused of. 
Real waste is the money we spent on PR and strategists who had us cowering rather than robustly defending ourselves. How many potential donations have we wasted by obfuscating instead of standing up? Why did we accept the premise of the accusations and whimper rather than reject it and fight? When did we decide people were too stupid to understand it would take more than a £3 donation to save the world? (more…)
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…
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.” – T.S Eliot After presenting an eight part blog series this autumn through 101fundraising, Tony Elischer has brought all his Read more…
Having celebrated over 30 years in fundraising (which probably qualifies me to be a really boring old fart) I find myself wondering whether anything has really changed in fundraising apart from social media – which Read more…
The New Lexicon of Fundraising: Part 5 “One loyal friend is worth 10,000 relatives.” Euripides We are all familiar with the normal division used in a direct marketing or individual giving teams: acquisition, development and Read more…
The New Lexicon of Fundraising: Part 4 “Emotions are the lubricants of reason.” F.Yakob When you first become a fundraiser the focus is on techniques, channels and strategies, learning the art and craft of fundraising. Read more…
Fundraisers do talk a lot about their donors, relationships, the need (and right) to ask, the importance of saying thank you. The challenge of retention, and the importance of making supporters feel special. But we Read more…
I’m tired of hearing about the ‘economic crisis’ as a reason for not achieving fundraising targets. It’s what it is. It’s the new normal.
The charities that are achieving and exceeding targets today are the ones that accept this new normal and are responding to the needs of their supporters.
This is especially true in corporate partnerships. Companies no longer have budgets for making donations to charities in the same way that they did 5 or ten years ago. Their world has changed. They have to work smarter and leaner. (more…)
In the year 2000 my charity employer sent me on a course. Brand new to fundraising, many of the ideas were extremely useful. And I was impressed by a neat system which our tutor gave Read more…
Thoughts from IFC 2013 Whichever numbers you look at, from whichever angle you look, retention rates in our sector are appalling. Why? Well have you ever thought that the way we bring people in is Read more…
At the IFC this week I will be presenting a completely new session on changing your mind-set, changing your words and changing the way you think about fundraising. A powerful set of challenges to begin Read more…
Today I want to share what I think is the single most important ingredient for fundraising success. This ingredient can make it, or break it. It’s the multiplier effect. It’s the most powerful element in your Read more…
So, in a few weeks time, it’ll be my birthday, yet again, and I’m getting a little uncomfortable with how close 30 has become. I’m well aware that age is just a number, but the Read more…
‘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…)
My friend Marianne accused me of living in “Karen Land,” a place where everything is perfect and there are no obstructions to success. “The rest of us,” she said, “live in reality.” She’s right. When Read more…
A lot of people in our sector wax lyrical about being donor focused/donor centred/<insert some other supporter centric jargon>. Don’t get me wrong. For many, or even a lot of you, your supporters are literally Read more…
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…
