Watch out for your job – here comes the fundraising robot
Ok, that's probably an overstatement, but the robot fundraiser has finally hit the streets. Called Don-8r, the robot relies on donations to keep it powered. During testing on the streets of Dundee, it collected £25.86 over nine hours (mainly from one and two pence pieces)….
Protect the donor
We all know the old adage, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves, but it should probably be extended to supporters too. Because if we take care of our donors, we won't need to worry about income targets. That might sound…
The tragedy of the commons
I studied development studies at university (at UEA) where as fresh young undergraduates we were introduced to Garret Hardin‘s concept of The Tragedy of the Commons (first published in Science magazine in 1968). Hardin described a situation where a group of livestock owners share a…
Oxfam Vs Nothing But Nets
The Science of Giving is a fantastic publication that should be on the shelf of every fundraiser. It summarises some of the most important social experiments that have helped to highlight the reasons behind low response rates and high levels of attrition. The chapter by…
When to choose choice
Choice is becoming a buzzword in fundraising. But just how important is it? Over the last few years, organisations like Kiva, DonorsChoose and CRUK (with MyProjects) have done rather well by offering people a chance to decide how their donations are used. Kiva, which launched…
A personal letter is worth a hundred impersonal emails
A new MP, Robert Halfon, has shared some of his thoughts on how charities lobby in The Guardian. 150 to 200 impersonal emails a days and a post bag full with "glossy reports, papers, letters from organisations, nine times out of ten sent as a…
Things real people don’t say about advertising
If you ever get tempted to get a little personal when developing creative work and start putting your own likes and preferences ahead of what your donor needs, can I suggest you have a quick look at Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising. It…
It’s how you show it that counts
Information is Beautiful have produced their first animations. As we've seen, statistics can bog down and destroy an appeal, but that is often because of the dull way they are presented. By focusing on the context and the relationship between facts, it's possible to add…
Have a great christmas
I've a couple of posts that still can't get from my brain to the interweb and, quite honestly, it looks like I'm running out of time. But it's christmas! I hope yours is a fantastic one and that santa brings you everything you could wish…
Whatever Jumo is, it isn’t magic
I'm sure people sometimes confuse me with Harry Potter. They invite me in to discuss a new piece of work and the conversation goes a little like this… Hopeful fundraiser: We need to raise (insert very large sum of money of your choice here) urgently….
