It’s been a month since the IFC 2018 has ended. The danger is always to return to ‘business as usual’. However, more than ever this year indicated the start of a new era. Fundraising will Read more…
At this year’s IFC, it was more apparent than ever that fundraisers across the globe are working hard to address the same fundamental questions. Have we got the fundraising model right and what needs to Read more…
I think it is quite ironic that most nonprofits and fundraisers have so much trouble with money. The ways we consider the money we raise and the money we spend are still measured and defined Read more…
What is interesting about a country where the giving culture is still developing? A country with thousands of non-profits, many of them volunteer-based and some other trying to figure out the basics of fundraising? At 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…
Fundraising Directors are crucial for success. This incredible mastermind, known as Head of Fundraising in some countries, is in control of a massive budget and responsible for providing the organisation with the resources to do Read more…
Often we see something like “Please donate a tweet a day to help …. “ followed by a link to a site where people have to sign-in with their twitter details, or give it permission to access their twitter account.
Often though organisations don’t explain how the ‘donated’ tweet helps, they say what it helps, but often not how it helps.
If a charitable organisation is looking at using something like “donate-a-tweet”, it would make sense, and help with the cause if they were to tell people how “donate-a-tweet” works. If an organisation were to do this it would give their friends, followers an insight into how much it can help. (more…)
This month exactly 10 years ago, I started my first job as a fundraiser! And from the beginning I was hooked. I love fundraising, because it enables change. Vision and passion combined with great fundraising enables important change. And as a fundraiser you play an important part in that change.
So, looking back over those 10 years, what did I learn? I’ve listed the most important strategic ingredients for a successful fundraising program. Ten years of fundraising experience summarized in one blog post. You only need 3:49 minutes of reading to catch up with 10 years. Now that seems like the bargain of the decade!
(A big thank you to all my fundraising colleagues from Médecins du Monde, Médecins Sans Frontières and Greenpeace who made me the fundraiser I currently am. And a special thanks to Roger and John for the teachings in the early days!)
Fondsenwervers: altijd drukdrukdruk op zoek naar nieuwe markten, nieuwe middelen, nieuwe slimmigheden, the next big thing. Van de bobbel in de envelop naar scherpe listbrokers naar het perfecte callcenter. Fondsenwerver: take a break! Adem in… adem uit… Wat gebeurt er om je heen?
Er komt een e-mail binnen, een vraag over je de campagne. En hee, een telefoontje. Een donateur wil een verhuizing doorgeven. En kijk eens: weer een deelnemer erbij op je actiesite. Wat blijkt: tijdens je zoektocht naar de best-werkende-en-toch-voordelige prospectlijst en het ultieme belscript blijken er gewoon mensen vanuit zichzelf (!) naar jouw organisatie toe te komen. Zomaar, vanuit het niets! Hoe is het mogelijk…. Zeg eens fondsenwerver, hoe ga je hier eigenlijk mee om?
Best interessant om eens naar te kijken, deze ‘inbound leads’. Warmer dan dit zal je ze niet krijgen. Donateurs en niet-donateurs die jou weten te vinden. Die actief contact zoeken met vragen, meedoen aan je campagne, administratieve wijzigingen doorgeven en (ja, die ook) opzeggen. Allemaal personen die wachten op jouw reactie.
Maar hoe ga je hier mee om? Het is een heel diverse groep mensen met heel diverse vragen. Het lijkt bijna onmogelijk om hier één, of enkele, programma’s op in te richten. En om hoeveel mensen gaat het eigenlijk? En om wie?
A few weeks ago at the Institute of Fundraising Direct Marketing and Fundraising Conference, the question was asked of the panel: What do you think is the ‘next big thing’ in fundraising? Their answer wasn’t entirely surprising, but was particularly refreshing.
They unanimously said that it’s better to use traditional direct marketing but to hone the skills so you’re doing it as well as possible. Sticking to what you know, but doing it better than it’s been done before, is more important than some fad.
Personally, I agree, but it’s interesting that in spite of no fundraising panacea, as a sector we still talk about ‘the next big thing’. And we’re still worried about jumping on the bandwagon too late. Take door-to-door fundraising. It’s been hugely successful for years for a number of UK charities, mobilising a core base of Direct Debit donors. It generates largely Gift Aid-able, predictable, unrestricted income from a large base of donors that can tend to absorb the effects of a bad economy. There’s strength in numbers.
First of all I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to the inaugural bloggers who’ve opened this crowdblog with some great blog posts! We’ve seen 6 blog posts so far and I enjoyed every bit of them! Thank you Rebecca, Victor, Mitch, Margot, Julie and Lars!
Obviously there are a trillion fundraising topics to choose from, but today I’ve chosen one I consider the most important: donor loyalty.
When I started to use Twitter last year I made a few rules for myself. One of them being that I didn’t want to tweet about personal stuff, so I decided to tweet only about fundraising. To boost my followers I thought I’d summarize the best Tiny book in the series: Essentials of Donor Loyalty from professor Adrian Sargeant.
