Anyone who has followed this blog over the last year will know that I re-engaged (and re-started my direct debit) with Amnesty International UK through reading the tweets of @SusanneUre from Amnesty Canada. Yesterday I received the following in the post. One poly bag contained:…

First off, let's define what we mean by Social Information. Put simply, it's just a name for knowing what other people are up to. But I don't mean gossiping about Katie and Peter. It's more about the economic impact of knowing what's going on. I…

The Observer asked an interesting Question of the week on Sunday – Should we give to street chuggers? Caroline Howe, policy and codes of practice manager at the Institute of Fundraising was the supplying the yes answer, the basis of her argument being you can…

Choice is an important concept in fundraising – donors love it. When we offer choice through simple techniques such as shopping lists in appeals or more complex devices such as post-recruitment questionnaires that give donors control over the communications they receive, we build loyalty and…

Very funny video from Jeff Brooks from Donor Power that shows what might happen if the techniques used in some fundraising appeals were copied by a boy trying to get a new girlfriend. No wonder attrition is so high!

This morning I volunteered for the the Smithsonian Institution. Based in Washington DC, it's a fantastic group of museums that you should try and visit if you are in that part of America (I particularly recommend the air and space museum). I helped them out by assisting…

Next time you are stopped in the street and asked if you have "a few minutes to spare for charity", try this approach and see if you can turn their request for help into a donation for your own organisation. When you click on the…

This is a simple way to increase response rates and average gift – by a big margin. Next time you are putting together a brief, forget the real purpose of your job. Whether you are working to end global poverty, protecting Canadian lakes, stamping out…

The desire to raise serious sums of money for charities (or non-profits as our American cousins might say) is a fantastic thing. Animal rescue, tackling global poverty, protection of wildlife and the environment and funding cancer research and awareness are cracking causes that deserve every…

Recency, Frequency and Value are the mainstays of a successful segmentation strategy. You can use values, geo-demographics, regression and even snake oil to try and improve your targeting of appeals,  but at the end of the day, the long-term use of RFV can make the…