How should we defend face-to-face fundraising?
During my recent break from blogging, I've been keeping an eye on the debate about face-to-face fundraising. It's been quite a saga. It was obviously all kicked off by the piece on BBC's Newsnight. If you missed it, you can watch it here. The central…
Flashfunding – donor power in action
I’ve mentioned lendwithcare.org before. Rather than ask people to give money to charity, lendwithcare.org gives people a chance to end poverty by funding poor entrepreneurs in developing countries. You can read more about the site here or visit it here. The official launch is still…
Ten (eleven) best practices for online fundraisers
Sean Powell has just published a rather useful free e-book that will point anyone who isn’t well versed in online fundraising in the right direction. His key points are: Set up a listening post (I’d addsamepoint.com to Sean’s recommendations). Re-purpose your content (what works in…
Putting the power of mums to work
Nick Clegg is off to the UN Summit in New York at the end of September andSave The Children want to put some pressure on him to encourage world leaders to refocus their efforts to ensure we achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Getting help from…
Why have just one supporter, when you could have a whole group of them?
This is a quick follow-up to my recent post about lendwithcare.org. Even though it’s still in beta, the site has started to generate a fair degree of interest and I wanted to share an example of how one supporter turned in to a whole group…
What can a few billionaires teach you about fundraising?
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have put together a group of 40 billionaires who have promised to give away at least half their wealth to philanthropic causes. That’s pretty good news. But unless your charity is in line for one of the resulting gifts, you…
How many times do you have to ask for help?
Many years ago I worked with a charity that used to recruit new supporters through display and insert advertising. At one point they stopped advertising for about six months. When they started again, nothing worked! Banker ads in banker publications were generating a tiny number…
How to make Twitter more effective for your charity
At the end of last month I posted a piece on how charities seemed stuck on broadcast mode when it came to Twitter. Click through and you'll see I tweeted that I was thinking of giving to a few charities but didn't get much response…
Why do we treat donors like mushrooms?
YouGov published an interestingpiece of research last week looking at attitudes to charity performance. They found that just 40% of British adults were interested in a grading system (something similar to Charity Navigator in the USA) that would allow potential donors to assess the relative…
Are twittering charities still stuck on broadcast mode?
A number of people have commented on my increasing levels of generosity over the last month or so. It’s not that I’ve actually given any extra money to charity. It’s because I’ve been thinking out loud (on Twitter) about setting up a new direct debit…
The Essentials
‘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?
How do donors manage their philanthropic budgets?