This is how my daughter plays hide and seek. She thinks if she can’t see me then I can’t see her. In defence of her strategy she’s only two years old. But isn’t this exactly Read more…
Have you heard about the ‘why’? And why it’s so important to find the ‘why’ of your organization in order to raise more money? I guess you do. You’ve probably read about it in books, 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…
Give donors more choice over where their money goes. It sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? If we want to be supporter-focused, and help them feel genuinely close to the mission, why wouldn’t we let Read more…
I do it every year. Think about what I want to do differently in the months ahead. Lose weight. Exercise more. Learn a language. Be a more effective manager. Listen. January finds me strong and Read more…
Happy new year! We hope you have a terrific 2015! And we wish you health, happiness and heaps of fundraising success! Before we share the Top 50 best blog posts of 2014, let’s have a brief Read more…
The year comes to an end and we’re all in the holiday spirit! Time for one more Top 10… (BTW: next week we’ll publish our annual overview with the Best Blog Posts of 2014.) Before we look Read more…
Think back to Christmas when you were a kid. What did that look like? How did you celebrate? How much of your Christmas shopping was done online? How many relatives did you Skype with on Read more…
The biggest story around the Western World in December, is not the pleasure of the build up to Christmas, the expectation of connecting with family and friends or the joy of giving and being part Read more…
Christmas is the time when fundraisers get excited about the sound of a man or woman trudging through the snow struggling under the weight of a sack full of gifts. Only for us, it’s the Read more…
Oops, I did it again. Like previous years I sliced and diced the Central Bureau of Fundraising (CBF) annual figures into some sort of growth analysis for the Dutch market. Perhaps I should not repeat the methodology Read more…
With 2014 drawing to a close, for many of us thoughts turn to what 2015 has in store. It’s an ideal time to get inspiration from some of the fundraising industry’s brightest brains. And what Read more…
Our 101fundraising community has lately been blogging and talking a lot about fundraising leadership: the emerging and the stale, the breathtaking and the reprehensible. I now want to pivot the conversation from managing up to Read more…
Let’s presume you have this great innovative idea for recruiting new donors and there is just one hurdle to overcome: a ‘final go’ on the extra budget from your director or management team. For some Read more…
“How can I ask others to give to a cause I believe in, if I do not give to it myself?” responded one fundraiser. I give “to support the mission and to be a role Read more…
We all have to juggle responsibilities. News commentator Leslie Stahl admonishes us to identify our glass balls, those tasks that we cannot drop under any circumstances. When those balls shatter, the consequences are either dire, Read more…
I used to love the titles given to the IFC opening and closing CEO speeches at the IFC by my hero and fundraising guru and friend, George Smith. They were simply “Rant 1” and “Rant Read more…
A few weeks ago a stranger told me something that made me feel truly sad for an entire afternoon. I was at a charity marketing seminar. Presentation topics were things like: how to meaningfully calculate Read more…
Well, there’s a provocative question or two. But I’d suggest the answer is yes, it probably is. It all started with a throw-away comment from a client, that a year after working out their ideal Read more…
In many occasions fundraisers manage stand-alone direct mail campaigns, telemarketing campaigns or any other channel-campaigns. With hardly any idea whether the timing and proposition are suitable to the supporter, but just because they fit general Read more…
I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately. Why’s that? Because, after four years of becoming pretty darn good at what I do, 2015 will bring with it the next big learning – in a Read more…
There has been much online huffing and puffing recently about ‘evidence’ v ‘opinion.’ The scientific method in fundraising is misunderstood too often. On dozens of occasions I have found myself in debates at fundraising conferences 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…
By Francesco Ambrogetti and Derek Humphries ‘Ebola’ and ‘you’. These are probably not words you want to think about. Not in such close proximity. Not words any of us want to see so close to Read more…
This year in Holland, fundraisers from around the world gathered to learn, connect, share and grow at the International Fundraising Conference (IFC). It was my first time at IFC. After years of hearing how it Read more…
