Five fantastic insights for fundraisers from the British Red Cross Museum of Kindness
One of the many great things about charities is the people they attract to work for them – the changemakers – the people who actually get stuck into tackling poverty and fighting injustice, who support others when they are in need of help and who…
What can you learn from the early days of fundraising ads on TV?
This post follows the review of the early days of NSPCC TV advertising produced by Giles Pegram which can be read here. You need to read it before tucking in to what follows. There are hundreds of different charity ads on our TVs, but by…
How much has DRTV fundraising evolved since it was first made available to charities in 1991?
As one of the first fundraisers to use the medium when it was newly authorised in 1991, Giles shares his memories of the TV campaigns run by the NSPCC in to the 2000s as well as his thoughts on what – if anything – has…
How to raise money to build a cathedral (medieval edition)
One of my key learnings from my conversation with Giles Pegram (you can listen to the podcast here) was the recognition that the techniques he used for the NSPCC appeals were not new – they dated back to the middle ages. So after our chat,…
How Oxfam used new power in the 1960s to help a group of teenagers raise £5 million.
A short while ago I met up with Giles Pegram to record his reflections and thoughts about why people give? (which you can hear here). As part of this discussion, Giles told me how he got into fundraising. His story repeatedly brought to mind the…
A medieval ‘course’ in writing an appeal
There is virtually nothing new in fundraising. It’s one of the reasons I spend so much time in archives, hunting around for historical examples of how people used to raise money for charity. I learn a huge amount that I can implement – with a…
The Ghosts of Christmas Past are a Fundraiser’s Best Friends
Christmas is the time when fundraisers get excited about the sound of a man or woman trudging through the snow struggling under the weight of a sack full of gifts. Only for us, it’s the post delivery that gets our hearts beating a little faster….
Plus ça change
Hundreds of old charity ads going back to the mid 19th century can be found here. Take a look.
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…
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
‘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?