Over the past year, I’ve seen/heard/had a number of discussions around fundraising trends. They tend to revolve around the following topics:
And finally…
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…
“I no longer support Autism Speaks and this is why.”
Those were the words a friend posted on her Facebook timeline a few months ago. This is a friend whose son is affected by autism, a friend who has dedicated thousands of hours to raising money to find a cure for this terrible condition. For her to be moved to reject a charity committed to her common cause, the crime must have been serious. (more…)
I was sat in Hyde Park the other day reading through the feedback notes from a fundraising development day I had recently, when I came across a note I had scribbled in the margins of Read more…
How ‘the pope of advertising’ helped lay the foundations of my professional life.
by Ken Burnett
When the advertising and communications agency that I founded in 1982 opened its doors for business, its proprietor
– me – would most likely be found sitting on the front doorstep of the terraced Victorian house that was its first office with his nose buried in a book by David Ogilvy, Confessions of an Advertising Man. It was my bible, though equally likely at that time, or perhaps a bit later, I’d be found engrossed in his second classic, Ogilvy on Advertising (see here). I never met the great man and I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t have liked him if I had (he was famously authoritarian and right wing), but to say Ogilvy influenced me would be a bit like saying that Scotsmen are occasionally affected by whisky. To call this a massive understatement is, in itself, a massive understatement. Back then I was so immersed in the wisdom of what he was saying that I would have highlighted at least three paragraphs on every page. Truth is, I modelled the best years of my business life on the sayings of this man. And I prospered as a direct result. (more…)
My eyes follow Maestro’s baton up… and…. down. SPLEE-AAAAAH! (The cacking sound no French horn player wants to make, also known as a clam.) Tap tap tapping on the podium. Concentrate. Hear the note you’re Read more…
Convincing a board to give. It still is difficult in the Netherlands. Even when it comes to giving in times of a major gift campaign. Even when they know that giving as a board member will be inspirational, that it will set an example for prospective donors. Then why is it so hard to convince NGO boards?
I thought about this a lot last week. I did some research and had great discussions with colleagues and fundraising friends about it. We came up with several reasons why (Dutch) board members are still not that enthusiastic about giving to their organization. It had to do with culture: the culture of asking, the culture of giving. And even Dutch culture. (more…)
On one Sunday in April, the streets of London overflow with determination and kindness. This year 36,000 people took part in the London Marathon and many more came to cheer and will the athletes on. If it were possible to bottle goodwill this would be the place to start.
Last Sunday, for the first time in years I wasn’t on the frontline near Embankment yelling encouragement at the athletes, instead I watched the London Marathon on television at home, with some friends. As you can imagine it was a different experience. I’m not sure if it was more emotional to be part of the noise on the sidelines, with the exhausted runners on the last leg of the race, or taking in the huge scale of the event from the wider television coverage. (more…)
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…
Stevie Wonder would make a great welcome caller, he could follow up with “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and your new donor would be yours forever. But even if it isn’t Stevie isn’t Read more…
Why do we fundraise? Is it all about the money? Is it all about the donor? Is it all about the mission? That’s a tough question – and there isn’t an easy answer. Every single Read more…
This is a tough one.
Since I’ve been working in fundraising, and especially over the past year, I’ve been noticing the similarities and the differences between fundraisers that I really admire.
They all live by the principles of Relationship Fundraising, but some really take donor-love to the next level, while others simply use the building of donor relationships as another tool to achieving great results. (more…)
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…
Wow, what an amazing content have we seen coming by in the first quarter! That was very clear when we opened Google Analytics: the best 3 months ever in the history of 101fundraising! Meanwhile, the Read more…
You’re grocery shopping on a tight budget. You’ve got everything you need and a few things you want. You approach checkout knowing the £40 in your pocket will just about cover everything. But when you come to pay you find you’ve lost £10. Do you:
1) Look for the missing £10 (you know you had it a moment ago)?
2) Decide to do without a quarter of what you intended to get? (more…)
I’m an unabashed direct marketer. Turned fundraiser. Or if we’re being pedantic, direct response fundraiser.
I live and die by results. It’s why (I think) our clients like working with us. No fluff, no window dressing. Just out and out obsession with producing great results.
Facetiously, it’s in part why I never really “got” events. When I started fundraising and met event fundraisers I felt uneasy when I was told that their event didn’t raise much cash but generated a “heap of awareness”, and “was great for stewarding some major donor prospects”. (more…)
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…
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…
In a series of though provoking articles, the New York Times asked prominent philanthropists and scholars to discuss the status of contemporary giving and charities. Peter Buffet (son of Warren Buffet and Chairman of NoVo 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…)
A few months ago I was approached by a door-to-door fundraiser. It was dark, it was cold, and it was raining. The fundraiser, not bothered by these circumstances at all, told me a beautiful story about the charity he worked for. I believed him and decided to become a donor. Was it the rain? Or was I the perfect target for this charity? Or did I just meet one hell of a good door-to-door fundraiser? (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…)
For readers in the northern hemisphere, spring special event season is just around the corner. And they can be deadly. Back-to-back events, exhausting staff and volunteers, not netting enough, no time for follow-up from one Read 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…
