How to supercharge your charity newsletter
When it comes to charity communications, I've long thought magazines and newsletters are a waste of time. In comparison to appeals, they don't bring in much money and research into evaluating their impact points to the same inevitable conclusion – donors say that they quite...
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 I love branding
There was a cracking post from Jeff Brooks on Future Fundraising Now last week. It tells the story of how two senior marketing people at General Motors came up with the almost unbelievable idea (now reversed) of banning the word Chevy when talking about Chevrolet...
How do donors choose which charities they support?
I spent an interesting day at the CGAP conference in London on Friday. The highlight was Beth Breeze's presentation on how donors choose charities. I wrote about her initial findings back in February and now I've had an opportunity to read her final paper I'm...
What's different about See The Difference?
I gave my first gift via See The Difference on Monday. If you haven't heard of them, let me explain who they are. The people who run the organisation see themselves as being at the forefront of a revolution in charity giving. Dominic Vallely, one...
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 fundraiser's wristband
Wear this at all times and consult it before making any decisions.
Social media in numbers (refreshed)
The ubiquitous Social Media in Numbers video has been refreshed. I've pulled out just a few facts for fundraisers, but it's really worth watching the whole thing. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 old females. YouTube is the world's second largest search engine....
The twelve tweets of April
With the year skipping along quite nicely, it's time for the April Twitter round up. It's another great crop and, as ever, it's the tweeter who found the piece that get's the credit. If there isn't anyone cited, it's from one of my own tweets....
The Essentials
Crack the Code to Regular Giving: Insights, Strategies, and a Special Giveaway!
‘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?