Before we get going, let me just dwell briefly on that word ‘beneficiaries’. I wish there was another word, as it carries all kinds of implications of old-fashioned charity. What word do you use to Read more…
As a fundraiser, who do you consider to be your most important stakeholder? Think about it for a while. Actually, you probably didn’t need to think about for very long at all. You said donors, Read more…
I’m not even sure I should be doing this. And that’s part of the problem. You see, while it’s not at all hard for me to talk about diversity and inclusion, I do find it Read more…
It all started so enthousiastic. Our management wrote us an assignement that said:
Go out there and explore our possibillities to raise single payments for cordaid Mensen in Nood from new groups of donors through the internet. Be innovative and different. It’s a pilotproject, so be aware of the learning aspect!
Streetview Southern Sudan
And that we did! We learned. We learned a lot and than again the whole project left me with a little hangover. A hangover called Fundraising and Image. A hangover from dealing with your management in case of small or bigger crisis.
Everyone just started fresh with a new annual plan… hopefully! Annual plans are great. As a fundraiser you can’t live without them, because it’s your blueprint for fundraising success. Below a few reasons why I think you have to spend at least 10% of your whole year working on next year’s plans.
What do I mean with an annual plan in fundraising? In short, I would say a narrative document which explains all of your fundraising activities, and answers all why, when, how, who and how much questions. Obviously the annual plan should be linked to the overall organizational strategy. And attached to the narrative there should be a kind of Excel document explaining the numbers in detail per activity per month…
That sounds like an awful lot of work and, to be honest, it is! But it’s only the most important document in your fundraising department, so let’s do it anyway…
The past 2 ½ years I travelled to different countries and met lots of people engaged in a wide range of fundraising activities and campaigns. Despite the obvious differences in ‘couleur locale’, it always struck me that fundraisers are struggling with the same questions and problems, if it is in Japan, Italy or Brazil.
One of these issues coming up over and over again is the cooperation between Fundraising and Communications. More specific digital communication as communication through the website, webvertising, Twitter, social networking, crowdfunding, etc. The digital area offers great new fundraising opportunities with yet unknown potential. If you visit a doctor, buy a new car or want to know what’s happening in the Middle East, the first thing you do is surfing the web. What do you think a potential donor will do…?
Knowing this, it would seem obvious that every communication department is fully prepared to receive these donor prospects. An effective digital communication strategy is in place aimed at attracting and informing prospects in such a way that they are guided to the appropriate webpage where they are one mouse click away from their so-much-wanted donation. (more…)
