The best leaders I’ve had in my career have been surgeons, academics, arts administrators, software sales executives, and humanitarians. Most have been brilliant. The fundraisers, by and large, have not. Now, this could just be Read more…
As fundraisers we know rationally that people make decisions based on emotions, but how often do we acknowledge when this happens to us?
Yesterday I had a moment of fear as I stood on stage at IFC and looked out into the audience. (more…)
Not going to IFC? See details below this post to watch Tony and Rory’s presentation via webinar!
With the emergence from recession of many countries (albeit slow and staggering for some) and many markets announcing reasonable steady growth in voluntary income, it may seem that the not-for-profit sector is in a strong place and continuing to manage growth and development to meet the many varied needs of the Sector. The reality is that this growth and success is fuelling another major crisis for many charities. Yet it is one that the Sector fails collectively to recognise as the biggest challenge to our ability to continue to grow the power of fundraising to meet future needs, which inevitably grow faster than the resources we can generate to meet them. (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…
“Oh no, no another post on retention” I can hear you crying…
Is it not something out of the Middle age of fundraising? Is it not really common sense?
A prompt acknowledgment and thank for the donation, a regular update on what the donation has helped to achieve (and don’t forget to ask again!) and voila the donors are ours forever, isn’t it like that? Not really. (more…)
I grew up in that profoundly awkward era where we all had landlines and nobody had mobile phones. When I phoned a girl I was trying to woo it was paralysingly scary – one of her parents may well have answered and I’d have to deal with that.
That was bad…but even now, where we essentially have a direct line to anyone, making that call can be terrifying. Maybe that’s why so many people try to avoid picking up the phone? (more…)
Definition of WORTH (with apologies to the Oxford English Dictionary for a few VERY minor changes – but only in the example sentences) Adjective 1: equivalent in value to the sum or item specified. “A Read more…
Not one, not three, but FIVE new 101 bloggers made it to the Top 10 this quarter! Congratulations to Michael, Chantal, Richard, Tom and Laura! But the biggest congratulation of all goes to our very own Read more…
There’s a question that many fundraising folk ask each other at this time of year. ‘Will I see you in Holland?’
Maybe it’s a testimony to the clout of the International Fundraising Congress that it’s become synonymous with a country (or maybe Holland is just shorter to say?) Either way, I look forward to seeing you in Holland this year.
I’ve been privileged to be part of the great team organising the event this year. In developing this year’s theme and content, we came down to just three words that sum up what fundraising is all about:
Inspire. Connect. Transform. (more…)
On 15 September SOFII held a half-day conference called ‘I Wish I Thought of That’ in partnership with Open Fundraising. The event consists of twenty quick-fire presentations by colleagues from across the sector speaking about Read more…
To fundraisers, hearing the word ‘no’ can be a little jarring. Sometimes even a little awkward.
As a direct marketer, it’s never bothered me so much. In many ways, crassly it’s a numbers game. For me, ‘no’ simply means, “there’s nothing to see here”.
And on I move. Looking for more and better ways to find people who say ‘yes’.
Until recently. (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…
Sean Triner discusses why the traditional commercial approach to branding is fundamentally flawed when it comes to fundraising.
I think any money spent on brand awareness by a charity with a view to increasing fundraising income is absolutely and completely wasted.
I emphasise with a view to increasing fundraising income because I can imagine a scenario where a charity wants awareness for its mission, not for fundraising. (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…
Right now I feel like throwing a bucket of ice over the sector we fundraisers work in and shouting “wake up!”.
Years ago I knew something had changed in fundraising. I didn’t know what. Like us all I could see the symptoms such as rising acquisition costs, and falling response rates. I could certainly feel the pressure. So in between jobs I sat and read and read – books like Sticky Marketing, The Networked Non Profit and The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Surfacing from these fantastic reads I knew the rules of fundraising had changed. Over the last three years at SolarAid I have been learning how and doing by best to apply them.
This blog summarises my learning. (more…)
Reading Ken Burnett’s post on reciprocity left me, as most discussion on the subject do, with an awkward feeling about how this very familiar issue keeps popping up. I can’t say I answered requests for 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…)
Last year a philanthropist approached me. He told me about the philanthropist community he started. With this he wants to inspire people to give more, and to help them achieve maximum impact with their gifts. Read more…
We all know what we want from companies, right? Cash, lots of it, for our fabulous and vital work. And because just about every charity in the world (apart from the likes of Greenpeace who are too pure to sully themselves in this way…) is wanting corporate $$, we charities scrap like very scrappy things to secure the dosh for our cause.
Which often leads to disappointment. Corporate cash giving is actually pretty small whichever way you measure it. Whether as a proportion of corporate revenues, profits or charity total income, donations from companies are really not that significant. Few companies give away as much as 1% of their post tax profits and the majority give much less than this. (more…)
Why?
It is 22 years since Ken Burnett published the seminal book “Relationship Fundraising”. Everyone claims to have read it. Most people now call themselves a relationship fundraiser, yet almost no-one is actually implementing the core ideas in Ken’s book. Why?
Professor Adrian Sargeant has proved beyond doubt that relationship fundraising increases lifetime value. Yet few of us could say how much we are spending on retaining donors. Why? (more…)
How many Fundraising Directors of national charities that have international programmes have been challenged by their CEO or board member to go out and raise funds in countries where their non-profit spends its money? How Read more…
Is anyone’s loyalty programme actually working (and, just to clarify, I’m using the more traditional definition of ‘working’ as you used to lose loads of donors but now you don’t)?
I’ve never met anyone (who wasn’t selling such a programme) who could answer ‘yes’. But that doesn’t stop us squandering enormous amounts of time, energy and money on an entirely unproven ‘best’ practise that’s making things worse. I know several fundraising directors who know for sure retention got worse after they introduced their loyalty programmes. But they continue to run them. It would be funny if it wasn’t tragic. 
(more…)
Where do most non-profits tend to start when it comes to telling their story? They start with themselves. “Who We Are”, or on their website “About Us”. And then they move on to “What We Read more…
The CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) is a professional certification for fundraisers, which is quite well known in North America. To qualify to write the CFRE exam – professional fundraisers must have a minimum of five years’ experience (among other requirements).
Over the last six months, an internal debate has been raging: should I get a CFRE? Do I need a CFRE? Do I want a CFRE? (more…)
Unless you have been living in a hole for the last month you will have heard something about the latest campaign ‘proud to be a fundraiser’ from the Institute of Fundraising in the UK.
The essence of the proud to be a fundraiser campaign is not some naval gazing back slapping morale boosting exercise for the fundraising community. It’s about how organisations that are significantly growing their fundraising income are the ones where everyone in the organisation is both proud of what they do and the fundraising activities that enable them to do it. Because without fundraised income charities can’t achieve their mission. (more…)
