Back in the early days of the recession, the Prostate Cancer Charity shared some very important information on their copy testing programme with the sector about the impact of talking about the economic downturn in appeals. Now you have an opportunity to say thank you and help the men in your…

Juan Manuel Fraga can teach you everything you need to know about making your ask online. Show need Demonstrate the solution Give the donor an easy and simple action Tell them the cost Use a strong call to action Thank Show the donor what they…

You've got some great creative sorted. It's been signed off and is going through artwork. The data is processed. The printer has your slot booked and everything is looking good for the mailing, Then suddenly there is a phone call. A breathless voice says we…

I’ve recently become a fan of cakewrecks. It’s a blog that features pictures of cakes that have gone wrong. Poorly designed, inappropriate, creepy, ugly and just plain wrong! The best are the result of misunderstandings and are great examples of what happens when there is…

I was happily reading a fantastic review in Third Sector on one of Bluefrog’s two recruitment packs recently mailed for Centrepoint, until I got to the end and saw that our work had been credited to another agency. “My my,” I said, “that’s a disappointment…

When I was a fundraiser at the YMCA, we had a very specific problem to deal with – our brand was bigger than the organisation. Virtually everyone had heard of the YMCA (we had something like about 98% awareness), but few people really understood what we did. The Village People had…

Everyone is ranting about the massive amount raised by Comic Relief. But behind the huge numbers is a great little idea by Peter Serafinowicz, who managed to raise over £5,000 on Red Nose Day with a combination of Twitter and Just Giving. His idea was…

I thought the donation meter might have been an Onion spoof when I first saw it. Particularly when it was somebody called John W. Hickenlooper talking about it. But they are real. Hickenlooper is Denver’s mayor and he introduced them to help raise money for projects aimed at…