Fundraising advice from Snoopy
Anyone who grew up reading Peanuts, will probably remember the strips where Snoopy is sitting on top of his kennel, about to start writing his first novel. He rarely got beyond the first paragraph, which always seemed to start with the sentence, "It was a...
The impact of peer-pressure on giving (or ask the stingiest people to give last)
Sarah Smith, Frank Windmeijer and Edmund Wright from the University of Bristol have just published an interesting paper on the impact of the 'peer-effect' on giving to charity. We've seen from previous studies that knowing how much someone else has given to an appeal can...
What do we do about face to face fundraising?
Face to face fundraising has been through the mill over the last few weeks. Following on from the revelations in the Sunday Telegraph, the IOF has called the fundraising directors from member charities that use the technique to a summit meeting. Peter Lewis, Chief Executive...
Face to face fundraising from 1910
Many people seem to think that large-scale face to face fundraising was first developed by Greenpeace in the 1990s, but it's been around far longer than that. ActionAid were recruiting child sponsors in the 1970s by going from door to door. And Oxfam were using...
Another way to measure supporter loyalty
I can't think of many charities that wouldn't want more loyalty from their donors. But as we all know, people can be very, very fickle. Just because someone has set up a small regular gift or responded to an appeal, it doesn't mean that they...
Bluefrog gets connected
An organisational case for support might help highlight some of the reasons why people give to you, but it will rarely help you identify why they don't. The reasons are surprisingly complex, but one is quite simple - it's a hassle. It's rarely a case...
An influential fundraiser
The poll for the most influential fundraiser has just been opened by Civil Society's Fundraising magazine and my thoughts on it haven't changed. Every year, we chat to people, read books, blogs, articles and watch presentations. What we learn influences us. As a result, we...
Good fundraising is about more than just showing need
I've found a short film of a story that's often attributed to David Ogilvy. David was on his way to work and he saw a blind man sitting on the pavement with a sign that said… I am blind. Beneath the sign was a hat...
Why donors don't want to hear from you
A report has just been published that adds to the growing body of evidence that shows many charities are still getting something wrong when it comes to donor communications. The study, commissioned by the REaD Group, asked 1,500 UK adults about their attitudes to charity...
Charity ads from the archives
I recently signed up to Pinterest and soon realised that it was a great way to put my archive of charity advertisements online. It goes back to the beginning of the last century and features ads from Save The Children (UK and USA), Oxfam, The...
The Essentials
Crack the Code to Regular Giving: Insights, Strategies, and a Special Giveaway!
‘Tis Halloween. Keep to the light and beware the Four Fundraisers of the Apocalypse!
Why do people give? The Donor Participation Project with Louis Diez.
A guide to fundraising on the back of a postcard
What does the latest research tell us about the state of fundraising?